Browsing by Author "Connolly, Roisin M."
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Item A Multicenter Phase II Trial of Ipilimumab and Nivolumab in Unresectable or Metastatic Metaplastic Breast Cancer: Cohort 36 of Dual Anti-CTLA-4 and Anti-PD-1 Blockade in Rare Tumors (DART, SWOG S1609)(American Association for Cancer Research, 2022) Adams, Sylvia; Othus, Megan; Patel, Sandip Pravin; Miller, Kathy D.; Chugh, Rashmi; Schuetze, Scott M.; Chamberlin, Mary D.; Haley, Barbara J.; Storniolo, Anna Maria V.; Reddy, Mridula P.; Anderson, Scott A.; Zimmerman, Collin T.; O'Dea, Anne P.; Mirshahidi, Hamid R.; Ahnert, Jordi Rodon; Brescia, Frank J.; Hahn, Olwen; Raymond, Jane M.; Biggs, David D.; Connolly, Roisin M.; Sharon, Elad; Korde, Larissa A.; Gray, Robert J.; Mayerson, Edward; Plets, Melissa; Blanke, Charles D.; Chae, Young Kwang; Kurzrock, Razelle; Medicine, School of MedicinePurpose: Metaplastic breast cancer (MpBC) is a rare aggressive subtype that responds poorly to cytotoxics. Median survival is approximately 8 months for metastatic disease. We report results for advanced MpBC treated with ipilimumab + nivolumab, a cohort of S1609 for rare cancers (DART: NCT02834013). Patients and methods: Prospective, open-label, multicenter phase II (two-stage) trial of ipilimumab (1 mg/kg i.v. every 6 weeks) plus nivolumab (240 mg i.v. every 2 weeks) for advanced MpBC. Primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR). Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and toxicity. Results: Overall, 17 evaluable patients enrolled. Median age was 60 years (26-85); median number of prior therapy lines was 2 (0-5). ORR was 18%; 3 of 17 patients achieved objective responses (1 complete, 2 partial responses; 2 spindle cell, 1 chondromyxoid histology), which are ongoing at 28+, 33+, and 34+ months, respectively. Median PFS and OS were 2 and 12 months, respectively. Altogether, 11 patients (65%) experienced adverse events (AE), including one grade 5 AE. Eight patients (47%) developed an immune-related AE (irAE), with adrenal insufficiency observed in all 3 responders. Responses occurred in tumors with low tumor mutational burden, low PD-L1, and absent tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Conclusions: The ipilimumab and nivolumab combination showed no new safety signals and met its primary endpoint with 18% ORR in advanced, chemotherapy-refractory MpBC. All responses are ongoing at >2 to almost 3 years later. The effect of ipilimumab and nivolumab was associated with exceptional responses in a subset of patients versus no activity. This combination warrants further investigation in MpBC, with special attention to understanding mechanism of action, and carefully designed to weigh against the significant risks of irAEs.Item Automated lesion detection of breast cancer in [18F] FDG PET/CT using a novel AI-Based workflow(Frontiers, 2022-11-14) Leal, Jeffrey P.; Rowe, Steven P.; Stearns, Vered; Connolly, Roisin M.; Vaklavas, Christos; Liu, Minetta C.; Storniolo, Anna Maria; Wahl, Richard L.; Pomper, Martin G.; Solnes, Lilja B.; Medicine, School of MedicineApplications based on artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning (DL) are rapidly being developed to assist in the detection and characterization of lesions on medical images. In this study, we developed and examined an image-processing workflow that incorporates both traditional image processing with AI technology and utilizes a standards-based approach for disease identification and quantitation to segment and classify tissue within a whole-body [18F]FDG PET/CT study. Methods One hundred thirty baseline PET/CT studies from two multi-institutional preoperative clinical trials in early-stage breast cancer were semi-automatically segmented using techniques based on PERCIST v1.0 thresholds and the individual segmentations classified as to tissue type by an experienced nuclear medicine physician. These classifications were then used to train a convolutional neural network (CNN) to automatically accomplish the same tasks. Results Our CNN-based workflow demonstrated Sensitivity at detecting disease (either primary lesion or lymphadenopathy) of 0.96 (95% CI [0.9, 1.0], 99% CI [0.87,1.00]), Specificity of 1.00 (95% CI [1.0,1.0], 99% CI [1.0,1.0]), DICE score of 0.94 (95% CI [0.89, 0.99], 99% CI [0.86, 1.00]), and Jaccard score of 0.89 (95% CI [0.80, 0.98], 99% CI [0.74, 1.00]). Conclusion This pilot work has demonstrated the ability of AI-based workflow using DL-CNNs to specifically identify breast cancer tissue as determined by [18F]FDG avidity in a PET/CT study. The high sensitivity and specificity of the network supports the idea that AI can be trained to recognize specific tissue signatures, both normal and disease, in molecular imaging studies using radiopharmaceuticals. Future work will explore the applicability of these techniques to other disease types and alternative radiotracers, as well as explore the accuracy of fully automated and quantitative detection and response assessment.Item E2112: Randomized Phase III Trial of Endocrine Therapy Plus Entinostat or Placebo in Hormone Receptor-Positive Advanced Breast Cancer. A Trial of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group(American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2021) Connolly, Roisin M.; Zhao, Fengmin; Miller, Kathy D.; Lee, Min-Jung; Piekarz, Richard L.; Smith, Karen L.; Brown-Glaberman, Ursa A.; Winn, Jennifer S.; Faller, Bryan A.; Onitilo, Adedayo A.; Burkard, Mark E.; Budd, George T.; Levine, Ellis G.; Royce, Melanie E.; Kaufman, Peter A.; Thomas, Alexandra; Trepel, Jane B.; Wolff, Antonio C.; Sparano, Joseph A.; Medicine, School of MedicinePurpose: Endocrine therapy resistance in advanced breast cancer remains a significant clinical problem that may be overcome with the use of histone deacetylase inhibitors such as entinostat. The ENCORE301 phase II study reported improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) with the addition of entinostat to the steroidal aromatase inhibitor (AI) exemestane in advanced hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer. Patients and methods: E2112 is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III study that enrolled men or women with advanced HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer whose disease progressed after nonsteroidal AI. Participants were randomly assigned to exemestane 25 mg by mouth once daily and entinostat (EE) or placebo (EP) 5 mg by mouth once weekly. Primary end points were PFS by central review and OS. Secondary end points included safety, objective response rate, and lysine acetylation change in peripheral blood mononuclear cells between baseline and cycle 1 day 15. Results: Six hundred eight patients were randomly assigned during March 2014-October 2018. Median age was 63 years (range 29-91), 60% had visceral disease, and 84% had progressed after nonsteroidal AI in metastatic setting. Previous treatments included chemotherapy (60%), fulvestrant (30%), and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (35%). Most common grade 3 and 4 adverse events in the EE arm included neutropenia (20%), hypophosphatemia (14%), anemia (8%), leukopenia (6%), fatigue (4%), diarrhea (4%), and thrombocytopenia (3%). Median PFS was 3.3 months (EE) versus 3.1 months (EP; hazard ratio = 0.87; 95% CI, 0.67 to 1.13; P = .30). Median OS was 23.4 months (EE) versus 21.7 months (EP; hazard ratio = 0.99; 95% CI, 0.82 to 1.21; P = .94). Objective response rate was 5.8% (EE) and 5.6% (EP). Pharmacodynamic analysis confirmed target inhibition in entinostat-treated patients. Conclusion: The combination of exemestane and entinostat did not improve survival in AI-resistant advanced HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.Item E2112: randomized phase iii trial of endocrine therapy plus entinostat/placebo in patients with hormone receptor-positive advanced breast cancer(Springer Nature, 2018-01-11) Yeruva, Sri Lakshmi Hyndavi; Zhao, Fengmin; Miller, Kathy D.; Tevaarwerk, Amye J.; Wagner, Lynne I.; Gray, Robert J.; Sparano, Joseph A.; Connolly, Roisin M.; Medicine, School of MedicineEndocrine therapies are effective in the treatment of hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer, however, de novo or acquired treatment resistance is a significant clinical problem. A potential mechanism of resistance involves changes in gene expression secondary to epigenetic modifications, which might be reversed with the use of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors such as entinostat. The ENCORE 301 phase II randomized, placebo-controlled study demonstrated a significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), with the addition of entinostat to exemestane in patients with HR-positive advanced breast cancer with disease progression after prior non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor (AI). These results prompted the development of E2112, a phase III registration trial which is investigating entinostat/placebo in combination with exemestane in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer who have experienced disease progression after a non-steroidal AI. E2112 aims to validate the preclinical and clinical findings supporting the role of HDAC inhibitors in overcoming resistance to endocrine therapy in breast cancer, and ultimately improve outcomes for patients with advanced breast cancer.Item Identifying homologous recombination deficiency in breast cancer: genomic instability score distributions differ among breast cancer subtypes(Springer, 2023) Lenz, Lauren; Neff, Chris; Solimeno, Cara; Cogan, Elizabeth S.; Abramson, Vandana G.; Boughey, Judy C.; Falkson, Carla; Goetz, Matthew P.; Ford, James M.; Gradishar, William J.; Jankowitz, Rachel C.; Kaklamani, Virginia G.; Marcom, P. Kelly; Richardson, Andrea L.; Storniolo, Anna Maria; Tung, Nadine M.; Vinayak, Shaveta; Hodgson, Darren R.; Lai, Zhongwu; Dearden, Simon; Hennessy, Bryan T.; Mayer, Erica L.; Mills, Gordon B.; Slavin, Thomas P.; Gutin, Alexander; Connolly, Roisin M.; Telli, Melinda L.; Stearns, Vered; Lanchbury, Jerry S.; Timms, Kirsten M.; Medicine, School of MedicinePurpose: A 3-biomarker homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) score is a key component of a currently FDA-approved companion diagnostic assay to identify HRD in patients with ovarian cancer using a threshold score of ≥ 42, though recent studies have explored the utility of a lower threshold (GIS ≥ 33). The present study evaluated whether the ovarian cancer thresholds may also be appropriate for major breast cancer subtypes by comparing the genomic instability score (GIS) distributions of BRCA1/2-deficient estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer (ER + BC) and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) to the GIS distribution of BRCA1/2-deficient ovarian cancer. Methods: Ovarian cancer and breast cancer (ER + BC and TNBC) tumors from ten study cohorts were sequenced to identify pathogenic BRCA1/2 mutations, and GIS was calculated using a previously described algorithm. Pathologic complete response (pCR) to platinum therapy was evaluated in a subset of TNBC samples. For TNBC, a threshold was set and threshold validity was assessed relative to clinical outcomes. Results: A total of 560 ovarian cancer, 805 ER + BC, and 443 TNBC tumors were included. Compared to ovarian cancer, the GIS distribution of BRCA1/2-deficient samples was shifted lower for ER + BC (p = 0.015), but not TNBC (p = 0.35). In the subset of TNBC samples, univariable logistic regression models revealed that GIS status using thresholds of ≥ 42 and ≥ 33 were significant predictors of response to platinum therapy. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the GIS thresholds used for ovarian cancer may also be appropriate for TNBC, but not ER + BC. GIS thresholds in TNBC were validated using clinical response data to platinum therapy.Item Impact of Muscle Measures on Outcome in Patients Receiving Endocrine Therapy for Metastatic Breast Cancer: Analysis of ECOG-ACRIN E2112(National Comprehensive Cancer Network, 2023) Ballinger, Tarah J.; Marques, Helga S.; Xue, Gloria; Hoffman, Richard; Gatsonis, Constantine; Zhao, Fengmin; Miller, Kathy D.; Sparano, Joseph; Connolly, Roisin M.; Medicine, School of MedicineBackground: Observational data investigating the relationship between body habitus and outcomes in breast cancer have been variable and inconsistent, largely centered in the curative setting and focused on weight-based metrics. This study evaluated the impact of muscle measures on outcomes in patients with metastatic breast cancer receiving endocrine-based therapy. Methods: Baseline CT scans were collected from ECOG-ACRIN E2112, a randomized phase III placebo-controlled study of exemestane with or without entinostat. A CT cross-sectional image at the L3 level was extracted to obtain skeletal muscle mass and attenuation. Low muscle mass (LMM) was defined as skeletal muscle index <41 cm2/m2 and low muscle attenuation (LMA) as muscle density <25 HU or <33 HU if overweight/obese by body mass index (BMI). Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models determined the association between LMM or LMA and progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Correlations between LMM, LMA, and patient-reported outcomes were determined using 2-sample t tests. Results: Analyzable CT scans and follow-up data were available for 540 of 608 patients. LMM was present in 39% (n=212) of patients and LMA in 56% (n=301). Those with LMA were more likely to have obesity and worse performance status. LMM was not associated with survival (PFS hazard ratio [HR]: 1.13, P=.23; OS HR: 1.05, P=.68), nor was LMA (PFS HR: 1.01, P=.93; OS HR: 1.00, P=.99). BMI was not associated with survival. LMA, but not LMM, was associated with increased frequency of patient-reported muscle aches. Conclusions: Both low muscle mass and density are prevalent in patients with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer. Muscle measures correlated with obesity and performance status; however, neither muscle mass nor attenuation were associated with prognosis. Further work is needed to refine body composition measurements and select optimal cutoffs with meaningful endpoints in specific breast cancer populations, particularly those living with metastatic disease.Item Tumor and serum DNA methylation in women receiving preoperative chemotherapy with or without vorinostat in TBCRC008(Springer Nature, 2018-01) Connolly, Roisin M.; Fackler, Mary Jo; Zhang, Zhe; Zhou, Xian C.; Goetz, Matthew P.; Boughey, Judy C.; Walsh, Bridget; Carpenter, John T.; Storniolo, Anna Maria; Watkins, Stanley P.; Gabrielson, Edward W.; Stearns, Vered; Sukumar, Saraswati; Medicine, School of MedicineBACKGROUND: Methylated gene markers have shown promise in predicting breast cancer outcomes and treatment response. We evaluated whether baseline and changes in tissue and serum methylation levels would predict pathological complete response (pCR) in patients with HER2-negative early breast cancer undergoing preoperative chemotherapy. METHODS: The TBCRC008 trial investigated pCR following 12 weeks of preoperative carboplatin and albumin-bound paclitaxel + vorinostat/placebo (n = 62). We measured methylation of a 10-gene panel by quantitative multiplex methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and expressed results as cumulative methylation index (CMI). We evaluated association between CMI level [baseline, day 15 (D15), and change] and pCR using univariate and multivariable logistic regression models controlling for treatment and hormone receptor (HR) status, and performed exploratory subgroup analyses. RESULTS: In univariate analysis, one log unit increase in tissue CMI levels at D15 was associated with 40% lower chance of obtaining pCR (odds ratio, OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.37-0.97; p = 0.037). Subgroup analyses suggested a significant association between tissue D15 CMI levels and pCR in vorinostat-treated [OR 0.44 (0.20, 0.93), p = 0.03], but not placebo-treated patients. CONCLUSION: In this study investigating the predictive roles of tissue and serum CMI levels in patients with early breast cancer for the first time, we demonstrate that high D15 tissue CMI levels may predict poor response. Larger studies and improved analytical procedures to detect methylated gene markers in early stage breast cancer are needed. TBCRC008 is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00616967).Item Updated Results of TBCRC026: Phase II Trial Correlating Standardized Uptake Value With Pathological Complete Response to Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab in Breast Cancer(American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2021) Connolly, Roisin M.; Leal, Jeffrey P.; Solnes, Lilja; Huang, Chiung-Yu; Carpenter, Ashley; Gaffney, Katy; Abramson, Vandana; Carey, Lisa A.; Liu, Minetta C.; Rimawi, Mothaffar; Specht, Jennifer; Storniolo, Anna Maria; Valero, Vicente; Vaklavas, Christos; Krop, Ian E.; Winer, Eric P.; Camp, Melissa; Miller, Robert S.; Wolff, Antonio C.; Cimino-Mathews, Ashley; Park, Ben H.; Wahl, Richard L.; Stearns, Vered; Medicine, School of MedicinePurpose: Predictive biomarkers to identify patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer who may benefit from targeted therapy alone are required. We hypothesized that early measurements of tumor maximum standardized uptake value corrected for lean body mass (SULmax) on 18F-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) would predict pathologic complete response (pCR) to pertuzumab and trastuzumab (PT). Patients and methods: Patients with stage II or III, estrogen receptor-negative, HER2-positive breast cancer received four cycles of neoadjuvant PT. 18F-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography was performed at baseline and 15 days after PT initiation (C1D15). Eighty evaluable patients were required to test the null hypothesis that the area under the curve of percent change in SULmax by C1D15 predicting pCR is ≤ 0.65, with a one-sided type I error rate of 10%. Results: Eighty-eight women were enrolled (83 evaluable), and 85% (75 of 88) completed all four cycles of PT. pCR after PT alone was 22%. Receiver operator characteristic analysis of percent change in SULmax by C1D15 yielded an area under the curve of 0.72 (80% CI, 0.64 to 0.80; one-sided P = .12), which did not reject the null hypothesis. However, between patients who obtained pCR and who did not, a significant difference in median percent reduction in SULmax by C1D15 was observed (63.8% v 41.8%; P = .004) and SULmax reduction ≥ 40% was more prevalent (83% v 52%; P = .03; positive predictive value, 31%). Participants not obtaining a 40% reduction in SULmax by C1D15 were unlikely to obtain pCR (negative predictive value, 91%). Conclusion: Although the primary objective was not met, early changes in SULmax predict response to PT in estrogen receptor-negative and HER2-positive breast cancer. Once optimized, this quantitative imaging strategy may facilitate tailoring of therapy in this setting.