An international research team developed and validated a genomic test called HER2DX predict the prognosis of patients with HER2+ breast cancer in early stages and the likelihood of responding to pharmacological treatments given before surgery of the tumor. It is a tool that integrates clinical and genomic data.
The authors, specialists from Clínic-IDIBAPS-UB, VHIO, University of Padua (Italy) and REVEAL GENOMICS They thus created the first genomic test for this disease in the world. Now, a new study, published in the journal The Lancet EBioMedicinevalidates its reliability.
THE breast cancer HER2+ is responsible for 20% of diagnosed breast tumors. It is estimated that in Europe they are counted every year more than 100,000 cases, which means that every six minutes, a woman is diagnosed with HER2+ breast cancer.
HER2+ breast cancer accounts for 20% of diagnosed breast tumors. It is estimated that, in Europe, every six minutes a woman is diagnosed with this disease.
the laboratory of Alex Prat, head of the Medical Oncology Service at Hospital Clinic s Charles M. Perou, researcher at University of North Carolina (USA), both co-founders of REVEAL GENOMICS, are working to describe the biological heterogeneity of the disease and identify patients with different benefits of treatments and with different risks of relapse after diagnosis.
“The goal is to help the oncology specialist and the patient make more accurate therapeutic decisions. For this, it was necessary to integrate clinical and genomic data and validate them in more than 1,000 patients”, says Prat. “HER2DX It is an innovative tool that better predicts the behavior of each patient’s tumor in relation to the information available without performing the test.”
Until now, there were no tools to predict the risk of relapse and survival regardless of tumor size and the presence of axillary lymph node disease. “Despite major therapeutic advances in the last decade in HER2+ breast cancer, the vast majority of patients do not receive optimal treatment; or more than they need or not enough to heal,” he adds. Pierfranco Conte, gives University of Padua.
“Therapeutic decisions as important as the need (and type) of chemotherapy, or the amount (or duration) of anti-HER2 treatment, do not take into account the biological heterogeneity of this disease,” he continues.
A trial to benefit patients
HER2DX measures the RNA levels of 27 genes and uses intelligent analytical software to generate an algorithm that divides patients into low- or high-risk groups using scores (from 0 to 100).
To achieve this goal, HER2DX captures the four most important biological processes of HER2+ breast cancer: activation of the immune system within the tumor, the differentiated state of tumor cells, tumor proliferation, and the expression of the HER2 gene itself and of several genes. on chromosome 17.
The goal is to help the oncology specialist and the patient make more accurate therapeutic decisions. For this, it was necessary to integrate clinical and genomic data and validate them in more than 1,000 patients.
Aleix Prat, Hospital Clinic
Information provided by the 27 genes, along with tumor size and axillary lymph node involvement, is used to provide two types of clinical information: patient prognosis and tumor sensitivity to chemotherapy and anti-HER2 treatments given before surgery. of the tumor.
“For the first time, in the context of HER2+ breast cancer, we were able to develop a tool that brings all this information into clinical practice to ensure that your treatment is as personalized and accurate as possible. These types of exams are the ones that will help the oncologist the most in the future, as they will allow him to delve deeper and understand each specific case”, he explains. Ana Vivancos, head of the Cancer Genomics group at VHIO and co-founder of REVEAL GENOMICS.
Reference:
Aleix Prat, et al.: Development and validation of the new HER2DX assay to predict pathologic response and survival outcome in early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer. The Lancet EBioMedicine.
Source: SYNCHRONIZE
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