Cancer Research and Treatment

Original Article

Breast cancer

A Single-Arm Phase II Clinical Trial of Fulvestrant Combined with Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy of ER+/HER2– Locally Advanced Breast Cancer: Integrated Analysis of ¹⁸F-FES PET-CT and Metabolites with Treatment Response: Qing Shao, Ningning Zhang, Xianjun Pan, Wenqi Zhou, Yali Wang, Xiaoliang Chen, Jing Wu, Xiaohua Zeng; Cancer Res Treat. 2025;57(1):126-139. Published online July 9, 2024; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4143/crt.2023.1251

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Purpose
This Phase II trial was objected to evaluate the efficacy and safety of adding fulvestrant to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with estrogen receptor (ER)+/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)– locally advanced breast cancer (LABC). Additionally, the study aimed to investigate the association of 16α-18F-fluoro-17β-fluoroestradiol (¹⁸F-FES) positron emission tomography (PET)–computed tomography (CT) and metabolites with efficacy.
Materials and Methods
Fulvestrant and EC-T regimen were given to ER+/HER2– LABC patients before surgery. At baseline, patients received ¹⁸F-FES PET-CT scan, and plasma samples were taken for liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR). Secondary endpoints included total pathologic complete response (tpCR) and safety.
Results
Among the 36 patients enrolled, the ORR was 86.1%, the tpCR rate was 8.3%. The incidence of grade ≥ 3 treatment-emergent adverse events was 22%. The decrease in ER value in sensitive patients was larger than that in non-sensitive patients, as was Ki-67 (p < 0.05). The maximum standardized uptake value, mean standardized uptake values, total lesion ER expression of ¹⁸F-FES PET-CT in sensitive patients were significantly higher than those in non-sensitive patients (p < 0.05). Moreover, these parameters were significantly correlated with Miller and Payne grade and the change in ER expression before and after treatment (p < 0.05). Thirteen differential expressed metabolites were identified, which were markedly enriched in 19 metabolic pathways.
Conclusion
This regimen demonstrated acceptable toxicity and encouraging antitumor efficacy. ¹⁸F-FES PET-CT might serve as a tool to predict the effectiveness of this therapy. Altered metabolites or metabolic pathways might be associated with treatment response.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Application of Multimodal Radiomics in Assessing Neoadjuvant Therapeutic Efficacy for Breast Cancer
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Journal of Clinical Personalized Medicine.2026; 05(01): 324. CrossRef
Novel molecular imaging approaches in oncology: towards a more accurate estimation of tumour response
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Current Opinion in Oncology.2025; 37(5): 522. CrossRef
Novel Molecular Imaging Approaches: Towards a Better Estimation of Response in Breast Cancer
Amy R Sharkey, Gary JR Cook
British Journal of Hospital Medicine.2025; 86(11): 1. CrossRef

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