IMPORTANCEApproximately 25% of patients with early-stage breast cancer who receive (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy experience a recurrence within 5 years. Improvements in therapy are greatly needed.OBJECTIVE To determine if pembrolizumab plus neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in early-stage breast cancer is likely to be successful in a 300-patient, confirmatory randomized phase 3 neoadjuvant clinical trial. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThe I-SPY2 study is an ongoing open-label, multicenter, adaptively randomized phase 2 platform trial for high-risk, stage II/III breast cancer, evaluating multiple investigational arms in parallel. Standard NACT serves as the common control arm; investigational agent(s) are added to this backbone. Patients with ERBB2 (formerly HER2)-negative breast cancer were eligible for randomization to pembrolizumab between November 2015 and November 2016.INTERVENTIONS Participants were randomized to receive taxane-and anthracycline-based NACT with or without pembrolizumab, followed by definitive surgery. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESThe primary end point was pathologic complete response (pCR). Secondary end points were residual cancer burden (RCB) and 3-year event-free and distant recurrence-free survival. Investigational arms graduated when demonstrating an 85% predictive probability of success in a hypothetical confirmatory phase 3 trial. RESULTSOf the 250 women included in the final analysis, 181 were randomized to the standard NACT control group (median [range] age, 47 [24.77] years). Sixty-nine women (median [range] age, 50 [27-71] years) were randomized to 4 cycles of pembrolizumab in combination with weekly paclitaxel followed by AC; 40 hormone receptor (HR)-positive and 29 triple-negative. Pembrolizumab graduated in all 3 biomarker signatures studied. Final estimated pCR rates, evaluated in March 2017, were 44% vs 17%, 30% vs 13%, and 60% vs 22% for pembrolizumab vs control in the ERBB2-negative, HR-positive/ERBB2-negative, and triple-negative cohorts, respectively. Pembrolizumab shifted the RCB distribution to a lower disease burden for each cohort evaluated. Adverse events included immune-related endocrinopathies, notably thyroid abnormalities (13.0%) and adrenal insufficiency (8.7%). Achieving a pCR appeared predictive of long-term outcome, where patients with pCR following pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy had high event-free survival rates (93% at 3 years with 2.8 years' median follow-up).CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE When added to standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy, pembrolizumab more than doubled the estimated pCR rates for both HR-positive/ERBB2negative and triple-negative breast cancer, indicating that checkpoint blockade in women with early-stage, high-risk, ERBB2-negative breast cancer is highly likely to succeed in a phase 3 trial. Pembrolizumab was the first of 10 agents to graduate in the HR-positive/ERBB2-negative signature.

Although some cancers are initially sensitive to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), resistance invariably develops. We investigated mechanisms of acquired resistance to the EGFR TKI gefitinib by generating gefitinibresistant (GR) A431 squamous cancer cells. In GR cells, gefitinib reduced phosphorylation of EGFR, ErbB-3, and Erk but not Akt. These cells also showed hyperphosphorylation of the IGFI receptor (IGFIR) and constitutive association of IRS-1 with PI3K. Inhibition of IGFIR signaling disrupted the association of IRS-1 with PI3K and restored the ability of gefitinib to downregulate PI3K/Akt signaling and to inhibit GR cell growth. Gene expression analyses revealed that GR cells exhibited markedly reduced IGF-binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3) and IGFBP-4 RNA. Addition of recombinant IGFBP-3 restored the ability of gefitinib to downregulate PI3K/Akt signaling and to inhibit cell growth. Finally, gefitinib treatment of mice with A431 xenografts in combination with an IGFIR-specific monoclonal antibody prevented tumor recurrence, whereas each drug given alone was unable to do so. These data suggest that loss of expression of IGFBPs in tumor cells treated with EGFR TKIs derepresses IGFIR signaling, which in turn mediates resistance to EGFR antagonists. Moreover, combined therapeutic inhibition of EGFR and IGFIR may abrogate this acquired mechanism of drug resistance and is thus worthy of prospective clinical investigation.

Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) activity has been reported to be produced by several human cancers. Identification of RNAs transcribed from the IGF-I gene has been complicated by the detection of multiple hybridizing bands on Northern analysis. To determine if any of these RNAs are transcribed from the IGF-I gene, we have used a sensitive and specific ribonuclease (RNAse) protection assay for IGF-I. We have also studied the breast cancer tissue expression of IGF-I using in situ hybridization histochemistry. We have found no IGF-I mRNA in breast (zero of 11) or colon cancer (zero of 9) cell lines; both of these tumors have been previously reported to express IGF-I mRNA. However, three of three neuroepithelioma and one of two Ewing's sarcoma cell lines express IGF-I mRNA; therefore, in these tumors IGF-I may be an autocrine growth factor. In contrast to breast cancer cell lines, RNA extracted from breast tissues has easily detectable IGF-I mRNA. In situ hybridizations show that IGF-I mRNA is expressed in the stromal cells, and not by normal or malignant epithelial cells. These findings suggest that although IGF-I is not produced by breast epithelial cells it may function as either a paracrine stimulator of epithelial cells or an autocrine stimulator of stromal cells.

506 Background: Pembro is an anti-PD-1 antibody with single agent activity in HER2– metastatic BC. I-SPY 2 is a multicenter, phase 2 platform trial which evaluates novel neoadjuvant therapies; the primary endpoint is pathological complete response (pCR, ypT0/Tis ypN0). We report current efficacy results, with final results at ASCO. Methods: Patients (pts) with invasive BC ≥2.5 cm by exam or ≥2 cm by imaging are assigned weekly paclitaxel x 12 (control) +/- an experimental agent, followed by doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide x 4. Combinations of hormone-receptor (HR), HER2, & MammaPrint (MP) status define the 8 signatures studied. MP low HR+ BC is excluded. Adaptive randomization is based on each arm’s Bayesian probability of superiority over control. Graduation by signature is based on an arm’s Bayesian predictive probability of a successful 1:1 randomized phase 3 trial with a pCR endpoint. We provide raw & Bayesian estimated pCR rates adjusted for covariates, time effects over the course of the trial, & serial MRI modeling for pts not yet assessed for pCR surgically. Results: 69 pts were randomized to pembro (HER2- subsets only) from Dec 2015 until it graduated in Nov 2016. 46 pts have undergone surgery (table); the other 23 have on-therapy MRI assessments. In 29 HR–/HER2– (TNBC) pts, pembro increased raw & estimated pCR rates by >50% & 40%, respectively; in 40 HR+/HER– pts, it did so by 13% and 21%. 5 pts had immune-related grade 3 adverse events (AEs); 1 hypophysitis & 4 adrenal insufficiency. 4 pts presented after completion of AC (149-179 d after starting pembro); 1 presented prior to AC (37 d after starting pembro). 7 pts had grade 1-2 thyroid abnormalities. Conclusion: Pembro added to standard therapy improved pCR rates in all HER2- BCs that meet I-SPY 2 eligibility, especially in TNBC. Immune-mediated AEs were observed; pt follow up is ongoing. Clinical trial information: NCT01042379. [Table: see text]

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