Goetz, M. P.

Abstract Background Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) differs from invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) in its estrogen receptor (ER) signaling pathways, response to systemic therapy, and imaging features. We evaluated differences in early change in the proliferation marker Ki67 and features on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after novel endocrine based neoadjuvant therapy in lobular versus non-lobular cases on the I-SPY2 EOP Trial. Methods EOP is a prospective, randomized NET trial enriched for patients with ILC. Patients with stage II-III ER positive HER2 negative breast cancer with low molecular risk (Mammaprint low or Mammaprint Hi1 plus high Sensitivity to Endocrine therapy Index) were randomized to one of several endocrine therapy-based arms. Treatment arms include novel oral SERDS with or without CDK4/6 inhibitor, aromatase inhibitors, and SERMs with or without ovarian function suppression in pre-menopausal patients. Patients undergo repeat core needle biopsy with central Ki67 assessment after 3 weeks of treatment and serial breast MRI. Here, we compare endocrine therapy responsiveness as measured by change in Ki67 at 3 weeks and functional tumor volume (FTV) on pre-surgical MRI in lobular versus non-lobular cases. Results We evaluated 253 patients of whom 148 (58.5%) had non-lobular cancer (93.9% IDC), and 105 (41.5%) had lobular cancer (17.1% mixed ILC/IDC). Overall, mean age was 53.3 years, 63.8% of tumors were grade 2, and 86.5% were Mammaprint (MP) Low with the remaining being Hi1, with higher rates of MP Low in the lobular versus non-lobular cohorts (92.4% versus 83.4%, p=0.0358). At baseline, tumors in the lobular cohort had significantly lower mean Ki67 than those in the non-lobular cohort (11.2% [SD 12.8] versus 16.4% [SD 14.4%], p=0.0038). Consistent with this, the proportion with baseline tumor Ki67 <10% was significantly higher in the lobular cohort than the ductal cohort (60.4% versus 39.3%, p=0.001). At 3-week biopsy, mean Ki67 remained lower in the lobular versus non-lobular group (3.4% versus 5.4%, respectively, p=0.0415). The proportion of patients with Ki67 <10% at 3 weeks did not differ significantly between lobular and non-lobular cases (88.6% versus 79.7%, respectively, p=0.08). Among the 40 lobular cases and 88 non-lobular cases with baseline Ki67 ≥10%, week 3 Ki67 decreased to <10% in 90% of lobular cases and 72.7% of non-lobular cases (p=0.07). On MRI, mean FTV at baseline was similar among lobular and non-lobular cases (21 cc3 versus 16.3 cc3). On pre-surgical MRI, patients in the lobular cohort had significantly higher mean residual FTV than those in the non-lobular cohort (5.7 cc3 versus 3.8 cc3, p=0.034). Interestingly, when splitting the lobular cohort into mixed lobular and pure lobular, mean residual MRI FTV was 7.5 cc3 in mixed cases and 3.8 cc3 in pure lobular cases, reflecting that FTV decreased the least in mixed lobular cases (decrease of 51.1% in mixed cases, 69.7% in pure lobular cases, and 73.9% in non-lobular cases, p=0.0255). Conclusions These results highlight differences in lobular versus non-lobular breast cancer. Lobular cases had lower baseline Ki67, and similar rates of decrease in Ki67 after 3 weeks of NET than non-lobular cases. Despite this, mean FTV after completion of 6 months of NET was higher in lobular tumors. These findings may reflect differences in early versus late indicators of response to NET, or differential response patterns by histology. Alternatively, standard response measures such as Ki67 and FTV may need lobular-specific modifications. Ongoing work includes central assessment of Ki67 from surgical specimens, analysis of changes in gene expression signatures, and evaluation of surgical outcomes such as breast conservation rates by histologic subtype. Citation Format: R. Mukhtar, P. Norwood, A. Borowsky, S. Alkhafaji, K. Giridhar, C. Vaklavas, A. Elias, M. Wei, M. Goetz, N. Onishi, O. Olopade, L. Van 't Veer, L. Huppert, W. F. Symmans, L. Brown Swigart, C. Wu, C. Yau, D. Yee, M. Magbanua, E. Price, N. Hylton, L. Esserman, J. Chien. Differential early response to neoadjuvant endocrine therapy in lobular versus non-lobular breast cancer on the Endocrine Optimization Pilot (EOP) of the I-SPY2 Trial [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2025; 2025 Dec 9-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2026;32(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PS4-02-01.

Abstract Background: Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in HER2+ and triple-negative breast cancer (BC) are prognostic and associated with therapy response; however, there are few data regarding distribution and significance of TIL values in ER+ HER2-negative (HER2-) MBC patients (pts) treated with CDK4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i). CDK4/6 inhibition may promote antitumor immunity by production of type III interferons and tumor antigen presentation, and by inhibition of regulatory T cells (Goel, Nature 2017). Further, the addition of immune checkpoint therapy to palbociclib numerically prolonged PFS in the 2nd line (2L) setting (Mayer, JCO 2024). We aimed to investigate the prognostic role of TILs derived from fresh metastatic tumor biopsies in pts with ER+HER2- MBC prior to starting CDK4/6i and endocrine therapy (ET) in the first line (1L) and 2L setting. Methods: PROMISE (NCT0281902) is a multicenter, prospective study that enrolled women commencing the CDK4/6i palbociclib (Pb) with letrozole (1L) or fulvestrant (2L) for HR+HER2- MBC. The primary goal was to identify novel genomic variants and pathways associated with PFS. Here, we performed a secondary analysis to quantitate stromal TILs using protocol mandated pretreatment tumor biopsies and determine their association with PFS. Using the Kaplan-Meier method, we reported median PFS (mPFS) and 3-year PFS percentage (%) (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) by TILs [≥20% vs <20%] separately within 1L and 2L. As sample TIL values were generally concentrated at zero (27/58 = 46.6%), coupled with wide spread of sample TIL values ≥20% [range: 20%- 80%], we applied a ≥20% threshold for PFS analysis (high vs low TIL group) as described by Luen, Salgado et al. Lancet Oncol 2017. Statistical significance was based on the Wilcoxon test of the null hypothesis that there was no difference in the PFS curves by TILs. PFS is reported at median follow-up of 21 months. Results: Pretreatment tumor biopsies from 58/68 (85.3 %) pts were evaluable (42 in 1L and 16 in 2L). Median [Q1, Q2] TIL values were higher in 1L (5% [0, 10]) vs 2L (0% [0, 15]). The most common biopsy sites were bone (44.8%), lymph node (17.2%), liver (17.2%) and breast (12%). Overall, TILs frequency (>20%) by the 4 most common biopsy sites were bone (2/20, 10%), lymph node (4/7, 57%), liver (2/6, 33%), and breast (1/7, 14%). In 1L, although PFS was not significantly different (P = 0.237), mPFS (44 vs 34 months) and 3-year PFS 75.0%, [95% CI: 50.3%, 100%] vs 46.4% [95% CI: 31.0%, 69.5%]) were longer in pts with high versus low TILS, respectively. In 2L, the 3-year PFS was numerically similar comparing high and low TILs groups, (25.0%, [95% CI: 4.6%, 100%] vs 22.5% [95% CI: 6.7%, 76.1%]) with no significant difference in PFS (P = 0.761). Conclusions: In pts with ER+HER2- MBC treated with Pb and ET, PFS was numerically longer comparing high vs low TIL values in 1L but not 2L settings. Future studies evaluating TILs in larger datasets are needed to validate these findings. Genomic analysis (DNA/RNA) and its association with TIL levels is underway and will be presented at the meeting. Funding: The Center for Individualized Medicine, Mayo Clinic; Mayo Clinic Breast Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE P50CA116201); Mayo Clinic Cancer Center (CA15083-40A2); TEMPUS (https://www.tempus.com/) and Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO (Career Development Award 2018, Dr. O’Sullivan) Citation Format: C. C. O'Sullivan, A. M. Moyer, A. Nassar, D. M. Zahrieh, V. Suman, X. Tang, K. J. Thompson, R. C. Hentz, J. J. Harrington, A. Moreno-Aspitia, D. W. Northfelt, T. C. Haddad, S. Chumsri, P. P. Peethambaram, K. J. Ruddy, K. V. Giridhar, R. A. Leon-Ferre, R. Weinshilboum, L. Wang, K. R. Kalari, M. P. Goetz. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in advanced ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer prior to treatment with palbociclib and endocrine therapy: a retrospective analysis of the PROMISE study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2025; 2025 Dec 9-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2026;32(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PS1-10-22.

Abstract Background: TheTAILORx trial established that adjuvant endocrine therapy (ET) is non-inferiorto chemotherapy plus ET (CET) in T1-2N0 HR+/HER2-negative early breast cancer(EBC) with an Oncotype DX (ODX) 21-gene recurrence score (RS) of 11-25, RS 0-10is associated with low distant recurrence (DR) rates with ET alone, and RS26-100 is associated with higher DR rates despite CET. Although ODX isprognostic for 10-year DR, it has limited value for late DR >5 years. Inorder to develop improved DR risk prognostication, we developed multimodal AImodels integrating clinical, molecular, and histopathology features to provideprognostic information for early (<5years), late (>5 years), and overall DR at 15 years using primary tumorsamples and clinical data from volunteers who participated in TAILORx. Methods: DigitizedH&E slides were generated and nucleic acids extracted and sequenced from∼5000 primary tumor samples using Caris MI Tumor Seek-Hybrid, of which 2,808(56%) were used for model training and 5-fold nested cross validation (60/20/20split). Models included single-modality (clinical [C], image [I], molecular [M:ODX genes]), dual-modality (CM, IC), and multimodal (ICM). An expandedmolecular model (M+) model was also derived from expanded molecular inputsderived from whole transcriptome sequencing (WTS) data, including 5 commercialgene signatures (ODX, MammaPrint, Prosigna, EndoPredict, BCI) and 57 high-variancegenes; only EndoPredict, BCI, and ODX gene signatures were retained for model M+.Model-CM+ combined clinical plus expanded molecular features, while ICM/ICM+integrated image, clinical, and (expanded) molecular inputs. Risk scores were dichotomized into high vs. low risk groups usingthresholds chosen to yield risk group proportions closely matching thosedefined by the ODX RS cutoff of 25 for distinguishing high vs. low genomicrisk. Theprimary endpoint was distant recurrence (DR). Prognostic performance wasassessed using truncated concordance index (C-index, 90th percentile of eventtimes), hazard ratios (HRs), and log-rank tests. DNA-level whole exomesequencing (WES) features were also tested but did not provide additionalprognostic information and thus excluded from final models. Results: Theactual ODX continuous RS achieved a C-index of 0.625 for overall DR and 0.743early DR, but no prognostic value for late DR (0.52). Similar results for theC-index were observed for ODX+C for overall DR (0.619), early DR (0.724), andlate DR (0.514). Of all modelsevaluated, model-ICM+ gave the best overall prognostic accuracy for overall DR (C-index0.713; hazard ratio [HR] 3.56 for comparison of high vs. low risk, p<0.001)and late DR (C-index 0.655; HR 2.36, p<0.001), and ranked second for earlyDR (C-index 0.772; HR 6.59, p<0.001) behind the CM+ model (C-index 0.782). Amongsingle-modality models, Model-M+ improved early DR prognostication comparedwith a molecular model including only ODX genes(C-index 0.767 vs 0.744 for M),whereas Model-I was strongest for late DR prognostication (C-index 0.635). Conclusions: Molecularfeatures primarily drove prognostic accuracy for early DR within 5 years,whereas histopathology features strengthened the prognostic accuracy for lateDR after 5 years. Multimodal models captured these complementary signals, withICM+ giving the best overall accuracy for individualized prognostic assessment.Additional validation of the optimized ICM+ model and other models is beingperformed in an intendent validation sample of 2000 TAILORx volunteers, withresults to be presented at the meeting.Supported by the Breast CancerResearch Foundation and the U.S. NIH/NCI U10CA180820 and 5U24CA196172, and theU.S. Postal Service Breast Cancer Stamp Fund. Citation Format: J. A. Sparano, V. Wang, R. J. Gray, D. F. Makower, K. S. Albain, D. F. Hayes, C. E. Geyer, E. C. Dees, M. P. Goetz, J. A. Olson, S. S. Badve, T. J. Saphner, T. J. Whelan, M. Radovich, V. G. Kaklamani, G. W. Sledge. Multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) models integrating image, clinical, and molecular data for predicting early and late breast cancer recurrence in TAILORx [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2025; 2025 Dec 9-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2026;32(4 Suppl):Abstract nr GS1-08.