Dr. Burris on Using Recurrence Scores to Predict pCR

Howard A. "Skip" Burris, III, MD, chief medical officer and executive director, Drug Development Program, Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, discusses the correlation between pathological complete response (pCR) and Oncotype DX recurrence scores (RS).

A phase II study that examined ixabepilone and cyclophosphamide as neoadjuvant therapy in HER2-negative breast cancer patients found that patients with a high RS (greater than 31) or rapidly proliferating tumors responded better to chemotherapy, with 26% demonstrating a pCR. None of the patients in the trial with a low to intermediate RS experienced pCR.

The trial demonstrated that rapidly proliferating tumors are more susceptible to chemotherapy. Biologics may make a difference and still needs to be explored further in future clinical trials.