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Abstract #1024
Date
Contacts
Phone
May 14, 2014
Alicia Reale
216-844-5158
[email protected]
News Release
Department of Marketing and
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11100 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106
University Hospitals Case Medical Center Experts to Present Data at the 50th ASCO
Annual Meeting Highlighting New Way to Predict Response to Chemotherapy
For Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Patients
CLEVELAND: Researchers from University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center’s Seidman
Cancer Center will present findings from a study that found the presence of tumor-infiltrating
lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, ahead of treatment may help predict response to
platinum-based chemotherapy in women with triple-negative breast cancer. The data are being
presented at the 50th American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in
Chicago.
“Triple-negative breast cancers tend to be more aggressive compared to other types of breast
cancers, and being able to predict response to therapy could greatly impact treatment decisions
and patient outcomes,” says study author Shaveta Vinayak, MD, oncologist at UH Case Medical
Center and Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “Our
research shows that the presence of lymphocytes before administering chemotherapy could
predict a positive response to platinum-based therapy.”
Triple negative breast cancers are those that do not have estrogen or progesterone receptors,
and do not have an excess of the HER2 protein on the cancer cell surfaces. This makes it more
difficult to treat because the hormone-blocking or the HER2-targeting treatments do not work.
Triple negative breast cancers tend to occur more often in younger women and in AfricanAmerican women.
Platinum-based therapies are being tested in clinical trials for triple-negative breast cancer, and
evaluation of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes is an important factor in determining response to this
treatment. For oncologists, this could provide a new tool to individualize treatment for these
women.
Researchers from various institutions in the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, one of the
largest clinical cancer research organizations in the United States that conducts clinical trials in
all types of adult cancers, contributed to this analysis. Funding for this study was provided by
the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, ASCO Conquer Cancer Foundation, Triple-Negative
Breast Cancer Foundation, Myriad Genetics and National Institutes of Health (Stanford CTSA).
About the Study
Oral Abstract Session
Breast Cancer - Triple-Negative/Cytotoxics/Local Therapy
Abstract #1024: June 3, 9:45 AM - 12:45 PM
Dr. Vinayak will present new findings from the PrECOG 0105 trial, a trial evaluating neoadjuvant
platinum-based chemotherapies – carboplatin, gemcitabine and iniparib – in women with triplenegative breast cancer. This correlative study assessed the association of tumor-infiltrating
lymphocytes in pre-treatment breast cancer tissue with pathologic response to treatment.
The trial evaluated 70 patients with triple-negative breast cancer who had completed at least 4
of 6 planned cycles of therapy. Tissue and tumor sections from pre-chemotherapy biopsies
were evaluated by a central pathologist for density of lymphocytes. Pathologic response was
assessed by the residual cancer burden index.
Results showed that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes found in the connective tissue and the tumor
itself are predictive of response to platinum-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy and are
significantly associated with triple-negative breast cancer subtypes, with the highest frequency
in the immunomodulatory subtype.
About University Hospitals
University Hospitals, the second largest employer in Northeast Ohio, serves the needs of patients through
an integrated network of hospitals, outpatient centers and primary care physicians in 16 counties. At the
core of our health system is University Hospitals Case Medical Center, one of only 18 hospitals in the
country to have been named to U.S. News & World Report’s most exclusive rankings list: the Best
Hospitals 2013-14 Honor Roll. The primary affiliate of Case Western Reserve University School of
Medicine, UH Case Medical Center is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research centers
of excellence in the nation and the world, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopaedics and
spine, radiology and radiation oncology, neurosurgery and neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular
surgery, organ transplantation and human genetics. Its main campus includes the internationally
celebrated UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the
nation; UH MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and UH Seidman Cancer
Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve
University. UH Case Medical Center is the 2012 recipient of the American Hospital Association –
McKesson Quest for Quality Prize for its leadership and innovation in quality improvement and safety. For
more information, go to www.uhhospitals.org
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