Genomic Alterations and Targeted Treatment by Race in Metastatic Breast Cancer
Emily Podany, MD, Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Program, Fellow Wellness Leader, WashU Division of Oncology, was recently spotlighted in JNCCN360 for her work on Genomic Alterations and Targeted Treatment by Race in Metastatic Breast Cancer.
The study used a multi-institution consortium database that includes both clinical and tumor genomic data in patients with metastatic breast cancer to examine racial disparities in treatment. The consortium includes Washington University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Northwestern University, UCLA Health, and Weill Cornell. PIK3CA is a common mutation in hormone receptor positive, HER2 negative metastatic breast cancer, occurring in up to 40% of patients, and patients with the mutation can receive standard of care PI3K inhibitors after progressing on first-line therapies.
It is key that we now identify ways to ensure all patients equitably receive the recommended precision medicine treatments based on ctDNA testing results.
Emily Podany, MD
Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Program
Under the mentorship of Andrew Davis, MD, Podany found that Black and White patients with hormone receptor positive, HER2 negative metastatic breast cancer had the same incidence of PIK3CA mutations, however Black patients were less likely to receive PI3K inhibitors when compared to White patients. She is now working on a project to determine the root causes of this likely multifactorial disparity in order to design interventions to bridge this treatment gap.