The Hoosier Cancer Research Network multi-center BRE12-158 study on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), led by Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, was recently presented as a Spotlight Poster Discussion during the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium virtual meeting.

The correlative analysis from the study, “A Phase II Randomized Controlled Trial of Genomically Directed Therapy After Preoperative Chemotherapy in Patients with Triple Negative Breast Cancer,” found patients with circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), who had a presence of TP53 mutations, had a greater chance of rapid disease recurrence.

“What we learned will help researchers better predict which patients may be at higher risk of early recurrence,” said Milan Radovich, PhD, lead author of the study and associate professor of surgery and medical molecular genetics at Indiana University School of Medicine.

The BRE12-158 study enrolled 196 participants and ctDNA was successfully sequenced in 142 patients. Results show 90 subjects were ctDNA-positive after NAC and surgery and that 40% of those patients had TP53 mutations detected in their plasma.

“As a follow up study, we plan to identify patients with triple-negative breast cancer patients who are at an extraordinarily high risk of recurrence and intervene with novel, personalized treatment options,” said Bryan P. Schneider, MD, sponsor-investigator of the BRE12-158 study, Vera Bradley Professor of Oncology at IU School of Medicine, and a researcher at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Our goal is to find cutting-edge approaches to improve outcomes in this group of patients.”

Study authors, each from Indiana University, included: Milan Radovich, PhD; Nawal Kassem, MD, MS; Guanglong Jiang, MS; Bradley A. Hancock, BS; and Bryan P. Schneider, MD.

See abstract.

For more information about this research study, visit clinical trials.gov (study#NCT02101385).

About Hoosier Cancer Research Network:

Hoosier Cancer Research Network (formerly known as Hoosier Oncology Group) conducts innovative cancer research in collaboration with academic and community physicians and scientists across the United States. The organization provides comprehensive clinical trial management and support, from conception through publication. Created in 1984 as a program of the Walther Cancer Institute, Hoosier Cancer Research Network became an independent nonprofit clinical research organization in 2007. Since its founding, Hoosier Cancer Research Network has conducted more than 230 trials in a variety of cancer types and supportive care, resulting in more than 350 publications. More than 9,000 subjects have participated in Hoosier Cancer Research Network clinical trials.