Mei-Yin Polley published an invited editorial on a research article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that reported on the prognostic value of a novel biomarker, CelTIL, determined based on stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and tumor cellularity in tumor biopsies after two weeks of neoadjuvant anti-HER2 therapy. In early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer, many patients are cured with the combination of chemotherapy and HER2-targted therapy trastuzumab. Therefore, biomarkers that can identify subset of patients with excellent prognosis to avoid overtreatment are critically needed. This study is notable in that it represents a promising tool that integrates molecular biomarkers and patient factors for individual risk stratification for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. Novel tools like this will also be invaluable in aiding the design of future clinical trials hoping to de-escalate adjuvant therapies for these patients.
Mei-Yin C Polley, PhD
“On the Quest of Risk Stratification in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer”
https://academic.oup.com/jnci/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jnci/djab061/6206391