A Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium (TBCRC) study was presented at both the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 2021 Annual meeting. TBCRC044 is led by Hope S. Rugo, MD of the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California San Francisco.

The TBCRC044 study, a randomized phase II study of pembrolizumab in combination with carboplatin compared to carboplatin, is a multicenter study including breast cancer patients with chest wall disease that is hormone resistant or triple negative.

The primary objective of the study is to determine the disease control rate including complete response (CR), positive/progesterone receptor (PR) and stable disease as defined by RECIST 1.1 at 18 weeks of treatment in breast cancer patients with chest wall disease treated with pembrolizumab and carboplatin or carboplatin alone.

The secondary objectives of the study are to determine progression free survival in patients treated with pembrolizumab and carboplatin verses carboplatin alone, to determine the toxicity of pembrolizumab and carboplatin verses carboplatin alone, to determine 18-week disease control rate based on tumor PD-L1 expression via immunohistochemistry and to determine the overall response rate of patients treated with pembrolizumab and carboplatin verses carboplatin alone.

Participating institutions of TBCRC044-BRE16-278 include the University of Chicago, Indiana University, University of Pittsburg, Vanderbilt University, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, University of California San Francisco.

Authors include Vidula N, Nanda R, Miller K, Emens L, Abramson V, Park B, Liu MC, Goga A, Rugo H. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA

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.