Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42078387›Full record

ArticlemedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences2026

Histology-Derived Signatures Predict Recurrence Risk and Chemotherapy Benefit in Randomized Trials of Early Breast Cancer.

Frederick M Howard, Anran Li, Sara Kochanny, Megan Sullivan, E Martin Flores, James Dolezal, Galina Khramtsova, Sasha Jain-Liu, Riley Medenwald, Poornima Saha and 15 more

Abstract readPreprint
In one paragraph

Article in medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

25 authors.

Frederick M HowardDepartment of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6039-1141
Anran LiDepartment of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Sara KochannyDepartment of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Megan SullivanEndeavor Health Cancer Institute, Evanston, IL, USA.
E Martin FloresDepartment of Pathology, Ingalls Memorial Hospital, Harvey, IL, USA.
James DolezalGeisinger Cancer Institute, Danville, PA, USA.
Galina KhramtsovaDepartment of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Sasha Jain-LiuDepartment of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.ORCID 0009-0000-6014-475X
Riley MedenwaldEndeavor Health Cancer Institute, Evanston, IL, USA.
Poornima SahaEndeavor Health Cancer Institute, Evanston, IL, USA.
Cheng FanLineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Linda McCartThe Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH, USA.
Mark WatsonDepartment of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Lauren R TerasDepartment of Population Science, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Clara BodelonDepartment of Population Science, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Alpa PatelDepartment of Population Science, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, USA.
W Fraser SymmansDepartment of Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Ann H PartridgeDana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
Lisa CareyLineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Olufunmilayo I OlopadeDepartment of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Daniel StoverThe Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9003-8165
Charles PerouLineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Katharine YaoEndeavor Health Cancer Institute, Evanston, IL, USA.
Alexander T PearsonDepartment of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Dezheng HuoDepartment of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.

Funding

Member Site CoreU10CA180821 · NCI · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI Evanthia Galanis · 2014 to 2026
$177.3M
Tissue Procurement & PathologyP50CA058223 · NCI · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI BENJAMIN CARLISLE CALHOUN · 1992 to 2026
$59.3M
THE ALLIANCE NCTN BIOREPOSITORY AND BIOSPECIMEN RESOURCEU24CA196171 · NCI · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI Mine Cicek, Wendy Frankel · 2015 to 2026
$35.0M
Geisinger Cancer Institute Oncology Research ProgramUG1CA189847 · NCI · GEISINGER CLINIC · PI Rajiv Panikkar · 2014 to 2026
$16.0M
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY / SITEMAN CANCER CENTER LEAD ACADEMIC SITEUG1CA233339 · NCI · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI NANCY L BARTLETT, Clifford Grant Robinson · 2019 to 2026
$11.3M
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center Network Lead Academic Participating Site (LAP) UG1UG1CA233329 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI KELLY K HUNT, CHELSEA Camille PINNIX · 2019 to 2026
$11.1M
Network Lead Academic Participating Site: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterUG1CA233290 · NCI · SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH · PI CAROL AGHAJANIAN, Darren Feldman · 2019 to 2026
$10.2M
OSU as a Network Lead Academic Participating Site for the NCI NCTNUG1CA233331 · NCI · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · PI John L. Hays, Dwight H. Owen · 2019 to 2026
$8.9M
NCTN Lead Academic Participating Site at Dana-Farber/Partners Cancer CareUG1CA233180 · NCI · DANA-FARBER CANCER INST · PI Harold John Burstein · 2019 to 2026
$8.6M
The Funding Mechanism of the Pilot TrialR01CA276652 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · PI Hiroyuki Abe, Gregory S. Karczmar · 2023 to 2026
$5.0M
UG1 - NCTN (Network Lead)UG1CA233327 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · PI STEVEN J CHMURA, HEDY L KINDLER · 2019 to 2026
$4.4M
UNC Lead Academic Participating SiteUG1CA233373 · NCI · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI CAREY, LISA A, DEES, ELIZABETH CLAIRE · 2019 to 2025
$3.5M
NCI NIH HHS K08 CA283261NCI NIH HHS P20 CA233307NCI NIH HHS P50 CA058223NCI NIH HHS R01 CA276652NCI NIH HHS U10 CA180821NCI NIH HHS U24 CA196171NCI NIH HHS UG1 CA189847NCI NIH HHS UG1 CA233180NCI NIH HHS UG1 CA233290NCI NIH HHS UG1 CA233327NCI NIH HHS UG1 CA233329NCI NIH HHS UG1 CA233331NCI NIH HHS UG1 CA233339NCI NIH HHS UG1 CA233373NIDCR NIH HHS R56 DE030958
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Purpose: To test whether histology-derived gene-expression signatures from routine hematoxylin and eosin slides are prognostic for recurrence and predictive of chemotherapy benefit in early breast cancer. Methods: We conducted a multi-cohort study including CALGB 9344 (anthracycline ± paclitaxel), CALGB 9741 (standard vs dose-dense chemotherapy), a pooled Chicago real-world cohort, and the American Cancer Society (ACS) Cancer Prevention Studies-II and -3. Whole-slide images were processed with a previously described pipeline to generate 61 histology-derived signatures per patient. The primary endpoint was distant recurrence-free interval (DRFI), except in ACS, where breast cancer-specific survival was used. Secondary endpoints include distant recurrence-free survival (DRFS) and overall survival. The most prognostic signature in CALGB 9344, selected by Harrell's C-index, was evaluated in additional cohorts. Signature-treatment interaction was assessed by likelihood-ratio tests. Multivariable Cox models incorporating age, tumor size, nodal status, estrogen/progesterone receptor status, and signature were fit in CALGB 9344 to improve risk stratification. Results: A total of 7,170 patients were included across four cohorts. The top histology-derived signature in CALGB 9344 showed strong prognostic performance for 5-year DRFI (C-index 0.63) and performed well across validation cohorts (C-index 0.60, 0.70, and 0.62 in CALGB 9741, Chicago, and ACS, respectively). The strongest predictive signal for treatment benefit was observed for DRFS. High-risk cases identified by the signature demonstrated greater benefit from taxane in CALGB 9344 (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.76 for DRFS, 95% CI 0.66-0.88; interaction p=0.028), from dose-dense chemotherapy in CALGB 9741 (aHR 0.69, 95% CI 0.56-0.85; interaction p=0.039), and differential chemotherapy benefit in the Chicago cohort (aHR 0.84, 95% CI 0.59-1.21; interaction p=0.009). Combined clinical-histology models improved risk stratification and identified low-risk groups with a 2%-10% risk of distant recurrence or breast cancer death. Conclusion: Histology-derived signatures from H&E images are broadly prognostic and, unlike clinical factors, may predict chemotherapy benefit.

Indexed as

breast cancerdigital pathologypredictive biomarkers

Identifiers

PMID42078387
PMCPMC13131706

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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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.