Predictive value of DTCs for response to nab-paclitaxel based NACT
TNBC, DTC-positive, breast cancer
BREAST CANCER
A total of 60/167 (35.9%) patients had a pCR. Of those, HR+/HER2− patients had the lowest pCR rate (15.3%), followed by HER2+ patients (43.3%). The highest pCR rate was observed in TNBC patients (55.4%).To investigate the predictive value of DTCs for response to NACT, we compared baseline DTC-status with the patient’s pCR rate after NACT ± denosumab. Overall, the pCR rate in DTC-positive patients was 32.6% versus 37.1% in DTC-negative patients (Predictive value of baseline DTCs. Bar chart showing pCR rate after NACT ± denosumab among the total cohort and the different subtypes of breast cancer with regard to DTC-status at baseline. We further analyzed, whether a pCR to NACT ± denosumab may parallel DTC-eradication in the bone marrow. Across all subtypes, there was no statistical significance between pCR rate and DTC-eradication. Thus, the pCR rate in DTC-persistent patients was 27.3% versus 36.7% in DTC-eradicated patients (Association between pCR rate and DTC-eradication. Bar chart showing pCR rate after NACT ± denosumab among the total cohort and the different subtypes of breast cancer with regard to DTC-eradication. We conclude that the presence of DTCs at baseline does not predict overall response to NACT ± denosumab. Moreover, there was no association between pCR and DTC-eradication. However, subtype analysis showed some numerical trends for a possible association between DTCs and pCR in TNBC.