March 7, 2011
School of Medicine, Kochi
Dr. Sheikh Zahoor Ahmad, DNB resident in the Department of Surgical Oncology at Amrita School of Medicine won the best poster award at the Indian Cancer Congress (INC) 2011 that recently concluded in Bhubaneshwar.
INC is a biennial conference jointly organized by Indian Society of Oncology and Indian Society of Medical and Pediatric Oncology.
Dr. Sheikh’s poster was titled A pilot study to assess the feasibility of evaluation of markers of response to chemotherapy at 24 hrs and 21 days after first cycle of chemotherapy in carcinoma breast.
“Breast cancer provides an ideal model to evaluate biomarkers for predicting clinical response,” he stated. “This scientific study aimed at investigating the significance of biologic markers in predicting response to primary chemotherapy (PCT) in breast cancer.”
Biomarkers measure the biological activity inside the body that indicates the effect of treatment on the state of disease.
“We conducted a pilot study to evaluate the feasibility of evaluating biomarkers of response to primary chemotherapy (PCT) at one and twenty-one days after first cycle of chemotherapy.”
The study was carried out in adult, non-pregnant, non-lactating women with histologically confirmed infiltrating duct carcinoma. They underwent serial core biopsies after first cycle of primary chemotherapy.
These biopsies were immunohistochemically scored for biomarkers such as Ki-67, Bcl-2 and Caspase-3.
There was a trend noted in all markers, which appeared different in those with good response and poor response. Results showed that good responders had significantly higher Ki-67 and significantly lower Bcl-2 at baseline and a significant decrease in Ki-67 and Caspase-3 at twenty-one days after the first chemotherapy.
The study was funded by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, Government of Kerala.
FROM THE POSTER
Study Goals
Early assessment of response: Faster prediction of response to chemotherapy (CT) Model for individualization or ‘tailor made’ CTEarlier parameters – Avoid the unnecessary side effects and treatment change delays
Conclusions
It is feasible to perform: Serial core biopsies at baseline, 24 hours and 21 days after the first cycle of chemotherapy in patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) for breast cancers. Serial apoptotic (Caspase-3 and Bcl-2) and proliferation index (Ki-67) measurements on these core biopsies and their quantification. Pathological response assessment on definitive surgical specimens using Miller-Payne grading system.
