Clonal Hematopoiesis in Older Patients with Breast Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy.

Journal of the National Cancer Institute
Authors
Abstract

BACKGROUND: The expansion of hematopoietic stem cells carrying recurrent somatic mutations, termed clonal hematopoiesis (CH), is common in elderly individuals and associated with increased risk of myeloid malignancy and all-cause mortality. Though chemotherapy is a known risk factor for developing CH, how myelosuppressive therapies affect the short-term dynamics of CH remains incompletely understood. Most studies have been limited by retrospective design, heterogeneous patient populations, varied techniques to identifying CH, and analysis of single time points.METHODS: We examined serial samples from 40 older females with triple-negative or hormone receptor-positive breast cancer treated on the prospective ADjuVANt Chemotherapy in the Elderly (ADVANCE) trial to evaluate the prevalence and dynamics of CH at baseline and throughout chemotherapy (6 and 12 weeks).RESULTS: CH was detected in 44% of patients at baseline and in 53% at any timepoint. Baseline patient characteristics were not associated with CH. Over the course of treatment, mutations exhibited a variety of dynamics, including emergence, expansion, contraction, and disappearance. All mutations in TP53 (n = 3) and PPM1D (n = 4), genes that regulate the DNA damage response, either became detectable or expanded over the course of treatment. Neutropenia was more common in patients with CH, particularly when the mutations became detectable during treatment, and CH was significantly associated with cyclophosphamide dose reductions and holds (p = .02).CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that CH is common, dynamic, and of potential clinical significance in this population. Our results should stimulate larger efforts to understand the biological and clinical importance of CH in solid tumor malignancies.TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov (). Clinical trial registration number: NCT03858322.

Year of Publication
2023
Journal
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
Date Published
04/2023
ISSN
1460-2105
DOI
10.1093/jnci/djad065
PubMed ID
37042724
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