Impact of brain metastasis size at the time of radiotherapy on local control and radiation necrosis.

Purpose: No consensus has been reached regarding whether upfront versus deferred radiation to small, asymptomatic brain metastases is most optimal. We sought to assess the relationship between tumor size at radiation and subsequent development of local recurrence and radiation necrosis to make data-driven recommendations regarding timing of radiation utilization.

Methods: We identified 2268 patients with 6308 newly diagnosed brain metastases between 2010 and 2022 managed with brain-directed radiotherapy at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, MA).

Rewiring of the 3D genome during acquisition of carboplatin resistance in a triple-negative breast cancer patient-derived xenograft.

Changes in the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the genome are an emerging hallmark of cancer. Cancer-associated copy number variants and single nucleotide polymorphisms promote rewiring of chromatin loops, disruption of topologically associating domains (TADs), active/inactive chromatin state switching, leading to oncogene expression and silencing of tumor suppressors. However, little is known about 3D changes during cancer progression to a chemotherapy-resistant state.

Transcriptomic changes underlying EGFR inhibitor resistance in human and mouse models of basal-like breast cancer.

The goals of this study were to identify transcriptomic changes that arise in basal-like breast cancer cells during the development of resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors (EGFRi) and to identify drugs that are cytotoxic once EGFRi resistance occurs. Human patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) were grown in immunodeficient mice and treated with a set of EGFRi; the EGFRi erlotinib was selected for more expansive in vivo studies. Single-cell RNA sequencing was performed on mammary tumors from the basal-like PDX WHIM2 that was treated with vehicle or erlotinib for 9 weeks.

Identification of nuclear export inhibitor-based combination therapies in preclinical models of triple-negative breast cancer.

An estimated 284,000 Americans will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021. Of these individuals, 15-20% have basal-like triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which is known to be highly metastatic. Chemotherapy is standard of care for TNBC patients, but chemoresistance is a common clinical problem.

Breast cancer liver metastasis: current and future treatment approaches.

Nearly all fatalities arising from breast tumors are attributable to distant metastases. Breast cancer liver metastasis (BCLM) is associated with poor prognoses, with the median survival time being 2 to 3 years. Tumor intrinsic subtype directs preferential metastasis to specific organs, with HER2-enriched tumors demonstrating the highest rates of metastasis to the liver, though all subtypes can grow in the liver.

Unexpected PD-L1 immune evasion mechanism in TNBC, ovarian, and other solid tumors by DR5 agonist antibodies.

Lack of effective immune infiltration represents a significant barrier to immunotherapy in solid tumors. Thus, solid tumor-enriched death receptor-5 (DR5) activating antibodies, which generates tumor debulking by extrinsic apoptotic cytotoxicity, remains a crucial alternate therapeutic strategy. Over past few decades, many DR5 antibodies moved to clinical trials after successfully controlling tumors in immunodeficient tumor xenografts.