Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39912409›Full record

Trial reportMolecular oncology2025

Response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in early breast cancers is associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes.

Françoise Derouane, Jérôme Ambroise, Cédric van Marcke, Mieke Van Bockstal, Martine Berlière, Christine Galant, Hélène Dano, Médina Lougué, Elena Benidovskaya, Guy Jerusalem and 7 more

Abstract readClinical Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Molecular oncology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Resistance to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancers: a metabolic perspective.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2025
    Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

Françoise DerouaneDepartment of Medical Oncology, University Hospital Leuven, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0199-1366
Jérôme AmbroiseCenter for Applied Molecular Technologies (CTMA), Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Cédric van MarckePole of Medical Imaging, Radiotherapy and Oncology (MIRO), Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Mieke Van BockstalDepartment of Pathology, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4498-928X
Martine BerlièrePole of Gynecology (GYNE), Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Christine GalantDepartment of Pathology, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium.
Hélène DanoDepartment of Pathology, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium.
Médina LouguéDepartment of Pathology, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium.
Elena BenidovskayaPole of Medical Imaging, Radiotherapy and Oncology (MIRO), Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Guy JerusalemDepartment of Medical Oncology, University Hospital (CHU), Liège, Belgium.
Vincent BoursLaboratory of Human Genetics, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Belgium.
Claire JosseLaboratory of Human Genetics, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Belgium.
Jérôme ThiryLaboratory of Human Genetics, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Belgium.
Aurélie Daumerie2IP Imaging Platform, Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Caroline Bouzin2IP Imaging Platform, Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Cyril CorbetPole of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (FATH), Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8795-9131
François P DuhouxPole of Medical Imaging, Radiotherapy and Oncology (MIRO), Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5429-7888

Funding

Wallonie-Recherche SPW - WALInnov 1610125
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) play a central role in early-stage breast cancer (BC) and are associated with chemoresistance, stemness, and invasion. The objective of this study was two fold: (a) by investigating the predictive value of EMT and TILs, we aimed to estimate the chance of achieving a response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and (b) to evaluate the potential changes of EMT and TILs in BC upon NAC. Using bulk RNA sequencing and immunofluorescence (IF) for EMT (E-cadherin and vimentin) and lymphocyte markers (CD3, CD8, FOXP3), we analyzed pre- and post-NAC tumor samples from 100 early-BC patients treated with NAC. For each BC molecular subtype, we compared the expression of EMT and TILs, at the RNA and protein level, between responding and non-responding tumors. Paired analysis of pre- and post-NAC samples was performed for patients with residual disease after NAC. RNA sequencing of pre- and post-NAC samples identified significant differences in EMT-related and inflammation-related gene expression between non-responding (RCB-II/III) and responding (RCB-0/I) tumors. Increased EMT-related marker expression was observed after NAC in cases with residual disease, in particular in the luminal subtype. Characterization of TILs in pre-NAC samples showed substantially more CD3 + CD8-FOXP3-lymphocytes in responding HER2+ tumors compared with non-responding. Paired analyses of pre- and post-NAC samples demonstrated higher levels of CD3 + CD8 + FOXP3-lymphocytes in residual luminal and triple-negative BC and higher levels of CD3 + CD8-FOXP3-lymphocytes in residual triple-negative BC compared with other subtypes of lymphocytes. We found that there is an unmet clinical need for reliable biomarkers to predict response to NAC in BC. Our results suggest that an upregulation of the EMT gene signature in diagnostic biopsies is associated with poor response to NAC in early BC, across all subtypes. Additionally, changes in EMT and in the TIL population occur in residual tumors after NAC. These findings could help to personalize future NAC and adjuvant treatment regimens.

Indexed as

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy ProtocolsBreast NeoplasmsEpithelial-Mesenchymal TransitionLymphocytes, Tumor-InfiltratingTriple Negative Breast NeoplasmsAdultAgedBiopsyBreastChemotherapy, AdjuvantFemaleGene Expression Regulation, NeoplasticHumansMiddle AgedNeoadjuvant TherapyNeoplasm Stagingearly breast cancerEMTlymphocytesneoadjuvant chemotherapyTILs

Identifiers

PMID39912409
PMCPMC12330941

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.