Clinical trials aim for triple negative breast cancer

Research is key to fight aggressive disease.

Any diagnosis of breast cancer can feel complicated, and the outcome is not always clear. This potentially overwhelming news is why clinical trials are so important: They lead to improvements that not only can make the outcome better, but also the experience of treatment itself.

“When we conduct trials, we’re trying to improve our current standard of care,” says Heather Riggs, MD, an oncologist at Kettering Health Network.

Breast cancer has m any subtypes, one of the most aggres- sive being triple negative breast cancer. Many f orms of cancer depend on growth receptors to thrive in the body, but what makes triple negative breast cancer unique is that it does not depend on these receptors for growth, which means it can be harder to treat. Fortunately, triple negative breast cancer comprises only about 20 percent of all breast cancer diagnoses, but it typically affects younger women.

“This is a very aggressive cancer, which makes this research a priority, ”says Dr. Riggs.

Thi s type of breast cancer is often associated with BRCA mutations, an inherited mutation to the breast cancer susceptibility gene. Because of this mutation, cells are deficient in their ability to repair damage to DNA, making a pat ient’s body more vulnerable to cancer. Women who have inherited this gene have up to an 80 percent chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.

Cancers associated with the BRC A mutat ion are tre a ted with medications called poly-adenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. Although the name is long, the effect is crucial. PARP inhibitors use the vulnerability caused by a BRCA mutation to their advantage by preventing the cancer cells’ abili ty to recover from damage caused by prior chemotherapy treatment. If the cancer becomes metastatic, meaning it has spread to other parts of the body, it can bem o re challenging to treat. However, several PARP inhibitors, including one called olaparib, have been very effective in treating metastatic breast cancer in patients with the BRCA mutation.

That’s where the research com es in. Currently, Kettering Health Network is participating in a clinical trial t hat seeks to evaluate whether adding a year of treatment with olaparib after surgery and chemotherapy for patients with stage II or III breast cancers and BRCA mutations will improve their chances of cure. These patients will typically under goc hemotherapy followed by surgery, where two thirds will have residual cancer cells that leave them at risk for their cancer to come back. This trial hopes to establish another wayto lessen that risk.

Participants in this trial will continue treatment with the medication for a year and will regularly follow up with an oncologist for 10 years to evaluate how they have performed.

“We h ope taking the extra measure will give these patients a better chance of a cure,” Dr. Riggs says.

Kettering Health Network is a faithbased, not-for-profit healthcare system. The network has eight hospitals: Grandview, Kettering, Sycamore, Southview, Greene Memorial, Fort Hamilton, Kettering Behavioral Health and Soin.