Molecular Profiling of the Residual Disease of Triple-Negative Breast Cancers after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy, Identifies Actionable Therapeutic Targets. A new paper from corresponding author Dr. Carlos L. Arteaga’s group at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The significance of this study is that it demonstrates the spectrum of genomic alterations present in residual TNBC after NAC. Because TNBCs that do not achieve a CR after NAC are likely to recur as metastatic disease at variable times after surgery, these alterations may guide the selection of targeted therapies immediately after mastectomy before these metastases become evident.
Briefly outlined; “Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is used increasingly in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), a subtype lacking expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), or HER2 amplification. The goals of NAC are to increase the likelihood of breast-conserving surgery and to eliminate clinically silent micrometastases. Approximately 30% of TNBC patients who receive NAC achieve a pathologic complete response (pCR). These patients have a favorable recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS; refs. 1–3). The remaining patients with residual viable cancer in the breast or lymph nodes exhibit high rates of metastatic recurrence and an overall poor long-term outcome (1–3).”
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