Multi-platform biomarkers of response to an immune checkpoint inhibitor in the neoadjuvant I-SPY 2 trial for early-stage breast cancer.

Only a subset of patients with breast cancer responds to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). To better understand the underlying mechanisms, we analyze pretreatment biopsies from patients in the I-SPY 2 trial who receive neoadjuvant ICB using multiple platforms to profile the tumor microenvironment. A variety of immune cell populations and markers of immune/cytokine signaling associate with pathologic complete response (pCR).

Early Ascertainment of Breast Cancer Diagnoses Comparing Self-Reported Questionnaires and Electronic Health Record Data Warehouse: The WISDOM Study.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to use real-world data sources that may be faster and more complete than self-reported data alone, and timelier than cancer registries, to ascertain breast cancer cases in the ongoing screening trial, the WISDOM Study.

Methods: We developed a data warehouse procedural process (DWPP) to identify breast cancer cases from a subgroup of WISDOM participants (n = 11,314) who received breast-related care from a University of California Health Center in the period 2012-2021 by searching electronic health records (EHRs) in the University of California Data Warehouse (UCDW). Incident breast cancer diagnoses identified by the DWPP were compared with those identified by self-report via annual follow-up online questionnaires.

Development and testing of a polygenic risk score for breast cancer aggressiveness.

Aggressive breast cancers portend a poor prognosis, but current polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for breast cancer do not reliably predict aggressive cancers. Aggressiveness can be effectively recapitulated using tumor gene expression profiling. Thus, we sought to develop a PRS for the risk of recurrence score weighted on proliferation (ROR-P), an established prognostic signature.

Treatment Efficacy Score-continuous residual cancer burden-based metric to compare neoadjuvant chemotherapy efficacy between randomized trial arms in breast cancer trials.

Background: Difference in pathologic complete response (pCR) rate after neoadjuvant chemotherapy does not capture the impact of treatment on downstaging of residual cancer in the experimental arm. We developed a method to compare the entire distribution of residual cancer burden (RCB) values between clinical trial arms to better quantify the differences in cytotoxic efficacy of treatments.

Patients And Methods: The Treatment Efficacy Score (TES) reflects the area between the weighted cumulative distribution functions of RCB values from two trial arms.

Treacherous Elasticity, Callous Boundaries: Aspiring Volunteer Initiatives in the Field of Refugee Support in Rotterdam.

This contribution focuses on volunteer initiatives that seek to assist refugee status holders in Rotterdam. It studies initiatives that are still in the process of fine-tuning their focus, grappling for funds, searching for volunteers, and seeking collaborations. The article lays bare the inequalities that such aspiring initiatives can be premised on and produce.