When facing breast cancer, the goal is often to shrink or eliminate tumors before surgery. For women with hormone-receptor-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer, doctors are looking for ways to make initial treatments more effective. This phase 2 trial looked at how using a specific digital pathology classification called SNF subtyping could guide those early treatments.
The study involved 251 patients. Researchers found that the group receiving precision treatment guided by these sub-types had a higher pathological complete response rate compared to the control group. Specifically, the precision group saw an 11.1% response rate versus 4.0% in the control. In the targeted-based subgroup, the difference was even clearer, with a 13.9% response rate compared to 4.0% for the control.
While these results are promising, it is important to note that this was a phase 2 trial. The study also found that the treatment was manageable and well-tolerated by patients, with even better tolerance noted in the endocrine-based group. These findings suggest that using SNF subtyping could offer a more precise way to guide care for these patients.
