Abstract Background Immune checkpoint inhibitors can result in serious, long-lasting immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Early identification of symptoms predictive of irAEs could enhance monitoring and timely intervention. This study assessed whether symptoms within the first 8 weeks of treatment could predict subsequent development of immune-related adrenal insufficiency(AI) or hypothyroidism. Methods This retrospective cohort study analyzed prospectively collected data from the I-SPY2 trial, a phase 2 platform trial for high-risk stage II/III breast cancer across 30 U.S. sites. The cohort included 482 women treated with experimental immunotherapy agents concurrent with weekly paclitaxel neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The primary outcomes were grade ≥ 1 hypothyroidism or AI, adjudicated by an independent safety group, up to 1-year post-treatment. Symptoms and irAEs were assessed using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events. Symptom burden was quantified as area under the curve (AUC) based on symptom grade and duration. Predictive modeling was performed using logistic regression and ROC analysis; symptom enrichment between cases and controls was evaluated using Fisher’s exact tests. Results Among 482 participants, 107 (22.2%) developed irAEs, with hypothyroidism (n = 61, 12.7%) occurring more frequently than AI (n = 38, 7.9%) at medians of 99 and 105 days from treatment initiation, respectively. Symptom enrichment analysis identified early predictive symptoms. Fatigue (17.2% vs 6.8%, p = 0.011) and rash (20.7% vs 7.8%, p = 0.0037) were predictive of hypothyroidism, while diarrhea (45.9% vs 31%, p = 0.048), constipation (5.4% vs 0.2%, p = 0.018), and taste changes (5.4% vs 0.5%, p = 0.034) were associated with AI. A predictive model demonstrated moderate performance (AUC 0.65 for AI, p < 0.0001; AUC 0.61 for hypothyroidism, p = 0.012). Model accuracy in an external validation cohort was 72.8% for AI and 74.7% for hypothyroidism. Conclusions This study presents a predictive framework to identify patients at risk for adrenal insufficiency and hypothyroidism as irAEs, enabling personalized care and proactive intervention to improve treatment outcomes and safety.
Early adverse symptoms to predict response to treatment among patients in the I-SPY trial.
610 Background: The adverse event (AE) landscape in oncology is changing due to the introduction of immunotherapy and antibody drug conjugates. These AEs come with both short and long-term symptoms that significantly impact patient quality of life. Monitoring for early onset of symptoms could optimize therapy for a particular patient, maximizing potential efficacy while mitigating toxicity. It is also possible that some toxicities are directly associated with drug sensitivity. We sought to identify symptoms associated with pathologic complete response (pCR) using patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in early-stage high-risk breast cancer patients. Methods: Our study population included 288 stage II/III high-risk breast cancer patients enrolled on the I-SPY2 trial from 2021-2024, who received novel neoadjuvant therapies ± standard paclitaxel. pCR was assigned if tumor was absent in breast and nodes at surgery following neoadjuvant treatment. Patients (n = 288, pCR rate = 29%, 89% administered immunotherapy) were sent electronic PROs. 33 patient-reported AEs were measured using NCI's Patient Reported Outcomes - Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE). Each symptom was evaluated using severity, frequency, and interference on a Likert Scale. Presence of early PRO symptoms (cycles 1-3 of treatment) were binarized (at least one of moderate or greater), and odds ratios were computed with pCR as outcome. To assess whether higher grade AEs were enriched in patients that achieved a pCR, we also performed the Wilcoxan rank sum test using maximum (worst) symptom severity. Results: Of 288 patients included in our analysis (median age = 48 years, range = 20-78), 203 (70.5%) were White, 17 (5.9%) were Asian, 33 (11.5%) were Black or African American, and 35 (12.2%) were Hispanic. PRO analysis revealed that patients that had moderate to severe muscle pain (27% vs 10% OR = 3.15, p < 0.05), joint pain (22% vs 8% OR = 3.23, p < 0.05), headache (27% vs 12.5% OR = 2.59, p < 0.05), or mouth/throat sores (16% vs 5% OR = 3.56, p < 0.05) within weeks 1-3 had higher odds of achieving a pCR. When we looked at maximum severity between weeks 1-3, patients that achieved a PCR had higher grade muscle pain (p = 0.04), heart palpitations (p = 0.035), and significantly lower grade numbness and tingling (p = 0.002). Beyond 6 weeks, associations were weaker or insignificant. Conclusions: Our study utilizes an analysis framework that was able to determine sentinel symptoms such as muscle and joint pain, mouth/throat sores and palpitations as early as weeks 1-3 associated with increased efficacy. This may suggest an early immune reaction in patients that eventually respond favorably to treatment. Our work can help provide earlier proactive monitoring to mitigate toxicities, treatment redirection if needed, and a potential symptom-based early understanding to personalize treatment efficacy. A similar analysis is underway to predict immune related AEs. Clinical trial information: NCT01042379 .
Identifying symptom clusters associated with acute and chronic fatigue in patients with breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant therapy on the I-SPY 2 trial.
271 Background: Many studies have shown that fatigue is associated with poor outcomes such as quality of life and physical function in breast cancer survivors.Early treatment of symptoms that result in persistent fatigue may be a strategy to mitigate long-term fatigue.As a result, we studied symptoms and developed risk estimates for patients that are most likely to develop fatigue by pre-surgery and follow up among patients treated on the I-SPY 2 neoadjuvant trial. I-SPY 2 is a phase-II adaptive trial for high-risk early-stage breast cancer patients. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study of 306 women undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy +/- targeted therapy, patients complete electronic surveys of symptoms via 34 PRO-CTCAE items and QOL via 9 PROMIS instruments. Fatigue is collected as part of the PROMIS survey and scored using Health Measures. Study timepoints are screening (SC), weekly study treatment (ST), 12 weeks (12w), pre-surgery (PS) and at 1, 6, 12 and 24 months (FU1-FU4) following surgery. Correlation between symptoms and fatigue at equal timepoints was quantified using spearman correlations and BH-adjusted p-values. For symptom odds analysis, symptoms were binarized such that those that had an average grade of mild or above (severity), rarely or above (frequency) or a little bit or above (interference) between ST weeks 1-6 were considered present. Clinically significant (CS) increase in fatigue was defined as an increase >=0.5 standard deviation (SD) in mean from baseline. Logistic regression was used to determine odds ratios of factors associated with fatigue. Results: Baseline PROMIS fatigue mean score was 47.14 (SD 9.31) with a median of 47.45. A CS increase in fatigue from baseline was seen in 55% of patients at 12w, and 61% of patients pre-surgery. Of the patients that had a CS increase in fatigue at any point prior to surgery, 45.7% had persistent fatigue through FU1-4. Symptoms associated with Fatigue at 12w were shortness of breath, headache, and nausea (P< 0.03). At PS, fatigue was significantly correlated with GI symptoms, neuropathy, and shortness of breath (P< 0.03). Risk estimates for patients that filled out symptom surveys at early timepoints (weeks 1-6) and also had fatigue were evaluated. Patients with early GU (genitourinary) symptoms had higher risk of fatigue at IR (OR=9.33, p=0.02, 88.9% in cases vs 33.3% in controls). Patients with early GI symptoms at PS (OR=8.56, p=0.03, 90.1% vs 50%), or FU2-4 (OR= 5.88 and 7.36, p= 0.04 and 0.02, 80% vs 39.1% and 81.8% vs 36.3%) also had a higher risk of developing fatigue. Conclusions: A CS increase in fatigue during treatment and follow up is seen in the majority of patients and is associated with a large number of persistent symptoms.