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PD-L1 blockade in combination with carboplatin as immune induction in metastatic lobular breast cancer: the GELATO-trial

Invasive lobular breast cancer (ILC) is the second most common histological breast cancer subtype but published data on trials specific for ILC are so far lacking. Translational research revealed that a subset of ILCs may be immune-related and more sensitive to DNA-damaging agents such as platinum. In murine ILC models, synergy between immune checkpoint blockade and platinum has been observed. Here, we tested this concept in the phase II, GELATO-trial (NCT03147040), in which patients with metastatic ILC were treated with weekly carboplatin (AUC 1.5) as immune induction treatment for 12 weeks and atezolizumab (PD-L1 blockade; every three weeks) from the third week onwards until disease progression. Four out of 23 evaluable patients had a partial response (17%, 95%CI 5-39%) and two patients had stable disease for at least 24 weeks, resulting in a clinical benefit rate of 26% (95%CI 10-48%). Out of these six patients, four patients had triple-negative ILC (TN-ILC). In serial biopsies of metastatic lesions, we observed higher CD8 T-cell infiltration, expression of immune checkpoints, and exhausted T cells upon carboplatin/PD-L1 blockade. This is the first report of a clinical trial specifically for ILC and we demonstrate promising anti-tumor activity of atezolizumab with carboplatin as immune induction, in particular for TN-ILC. While activity of carboplatin/PD-L1 blockade in classical ER+ ILC was limited, our translational data yield important insights for the design of highly needed clinical trials in ILC.

Click on a Dataset ID in the table below to learn more, and to find out who to contact about access to these data

Dataset ID Description Technology Samples
EGAD00001009834 Illumina NovaSeq 6000 46
EGAD00001009835 Illumina NovaSeq 6000 13
EGAD00001009836 Illumina NovaSeq 6000 23
EGAD00001009837 Illumina NovaSeq 6000 38
Publications Citations
PD-L1 blockade in combination with carboplatin as immune induction in metastatic lobular breast cancer: the GELATO trial.
Nat Cancer 4: 2023 535-549
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