Experimental Tool May Help Predict Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence

If the tissue of early-stage HER2-negative breast cancer becomes thick and stiff — a process called fibrosis by doctors — it can cause the cancer to come back (recur) in parts of the body away from the breast (metastasis). A small study suggests that an experimental  tool called the MeCo Score may be able to identify people with HER2-negative breast cancer that are most likely to benefit from taking medicine for fibrosis to reduce recurrence risk. The results were published in Clinical Cancer Research.

Researchers calculated the MeCo Score for 111 people with early-stage HER2-negative breast cancer. This tool analyzes more than 1,000 genes in a breast cancer tumor to determine how likely the breast cancer is to undergo fibrosis. A higher MeCo Score means the cancer is more likely to experience tissue stiffening, which can lead to recurrence.

Half of the people in the study received 12 weekly Taxol (chemical name: paclitaxel) infusions before surgery and half received Taxol plus Ofev, which is a pill taken by mouth. Ofev (chemical name: nintedanib) is commonly used to treat scarring of the lungs with no known cause, called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

After about 10 years of follow-up, people who received only Taxol and had high MeCo Scores were more likely to have the cancer recur compared to those who had low MeCo Scores.

Among people with high MeCo Scores who received Taxol and took Ofev, the Ofev lowered the risk of recurring by 62%.

“We were able to determine that a drug with no previously known benefit to breast cancer patients… led to better outcomes when used in conjunction with traditional chemotherapy,” said Ghassan Mouneimne, PhD, in a statement. Mouneimne is associate professor of cellular and molecular medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and of cancer biology in the Ginny L. Clements Breast Cancer Research Institute at the University of Arizona Cancer Center.

Mouneimne said he plans to do more research to confirm the results and hopes the MeCo Score will be used to help figure out who would benefit from adding a medicine like Ofev to standard chemotherapy.

“It’s all about seeking new ways to personalize care and find more cost-effective treatments,” he added.