Studies highlight importance of comprehensive genomic profiling to better treat breast cancer

IRVING, Texas, December 7, 2022 – Caris Life Sciences^® (Caris), the leading molecular science and technology company actively developing and delivering innovative solutions to revolutionize healthcare, announced today that it will present findings at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) that illustrate the potential impact of molecular profiling on the treatment of breast cancer. SABCS is being held December 6-10, 2022 in San Antonio, Texas.

Presentations and posters from Caris include:

• George W. Sledge, Jr., M.D., one of the most influential figures in breast cancer research who recently joined Caris as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, will participate in a Clinical Case Discussion Session from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday, December 7 in the Stars at Night Ballroom 1&2.
   

  “Our data at SABCS 2022 emphasizes Caris Life Sciences’ contributions to increasing our understanding of the rapidly-emerging area of HER2-low as a target for antibody-drug conjugates,” said Dr. Sledge. “As precision oncology continues to evolve, our cutting-edge work on tumor biology and molecular biomarkers will have broad implications in helping to guide treatment decisions and the development of novel therapeutic options for patients across a range of tumor types, including breast cancer.”

• A special session titled “HER2-Low: A Separate Entity?” on Wednesday, December 7, from 9:45 – 11:00 a.m. CT at the 2022 SABCS in San Antonio, Texas (Presentation #HER2-12). The poster is titled “Genomic and transcriptomic landscape of HER2-low breast cancer.” The studies were performed in collaboration with Duke Cancer Institute and Legorreta Cancer Center at Brown University, both members of Caris’ Precision Oncology Alliance™ (POA).
   

  Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-low is a newly defined subset of HER2-negative breast cancer that has been reported to account for up to half of all breast cancer cases. The molecular landscape of HER2-low compared to historical subtypes was investigated across 19,789 breast cancer samples using Caris’ Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology.

Study results demonstrate that when HER2-low breast cancer is stratified by hormone receptor (HR) status, it shares common genomic features with classically defined subsets of HR+ or HRneg disease. When HR+/Her2-low tumors were compared with triple negative breast cancer, significant differences were observed in PIK3CA (an actionable mutation) and TP53 (a prognostic alteration) and warrant further assessment. These findings advance understanding of the molecular landscape of HER2-low breast cancer which has recently become a new entity for treatment. This knowledge is key to understanding the clinical and biological factors driving treatment resistance and how these factors can impact post-progression treatment options in HER2-low breast cancer.

“Caris’ Precision Oncology Alliance (POA) continues its contribution to advancing breast cancer research by presenting novel findings on the molecular features of HER2-low breast cancer at this year’s SABCS,” said Chadi Nabhan, M.D., MBA, FACP, Chairman of the Caris Precision Oncology Alliance. “By leveraging Caris’ expansive real-world clinico-genomic database, our partner academic institutions are able to uncover new insights into the underpinnings of breast cancer biology and clinical outcomes.”

The POA includes 75 cancer centers and academic institutions, including 34 NCI-designated cancer centers, collaborating to advance precision oncology and biomarker-driven research. POA members work together to establish and optimize standards of care for molecular testing through innovative research focused on predictive and prognostic markers that improve the clinical outcomes for cancer patients.

Additional Presentations Reveal Potential Impact of Comprehensive Molecular Profiling
Caris will present additional data from studies demonstrating the critical role of precision medicine and molecular profiling in the treatment of breast cancer. All presentations will be made available online through Caris’ website beginning December 7.

• Prevalence and prognosis of ER-loss in advanced invasive lobular carcinoma (Presentation Number: P3-05-08)
  This retrospective study aimed to use real-world data to determine the prevalence and clinical significance of estrogen receptor (ER) loss in invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). Results demonstrate that, based on analysis of a large real-world dataset of over 20,000 patients with advanced breast cancer, ER-loss occurs in around one in ten ILC patients and has poor prognostic implications compared to ILC without ER loss or invasive ductal carcinoma with ER-loss. Genomic analysis also revealed significant differences between breast cancer patients with ER-loss who responded to treatment and those who did not. Further investigation is needed to build on these findings and potentially identify new therapeutic targets for patients with ILC and ER-loss.
• Clock genes in breast cancer (Presentation Number: P4-08-06)
  This study aimed to investigate the molecular and clinical associations of genes controlling circadian rhythms (clock genes) in breast cancer. Results of this molecular profiling study demonstrate that altered expression of clock genes is strongly associated with breast cancer subtype and survival. Clock gene expression also has therapeutic implications; higher clock gene scores are associated with high PD-L1 expression and triple negative breast and therefore support the use of checkpoint inhibitors. These findings show that clock genes are novel predictive and prognostic biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets in breast cancer.

About Caris Life Sciences
Caris Life Sciences^® (Caris) is the leading molecular science and technology company actively developing and delivering innovative solutions to revolutionize healthcare and improve patient outcomes. Through comprehensive molecular profiling (Whole Exome and Whole Transcriptome Sequencing) and the application of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms, Caris has created the large-scale clinico-genomic database and cognitive computing needed to analyze and unravel the molecular complexity of disease. This information provides an unmatched resource and the ideal path forward to conduct the basic, fundamental research to accelerate discovery for detection, diagnosis, monitoring, therapy selection and drug development to improve the human condition.

With a primary focus on cancer, Caris’ suite of market-leading molecular profiling offerings assesses DNA, RNA and proteins to reveal a molecular blueprint that helps patients, physicians and researchers better detect, diagnose and treat patients. Caris’ latest advancement is a blood-based, circulating nucleic acids sequencing (cNAS) assay that combines comprehensive molecular analysis (Whole Exome and Whole Transcriptome Sequencing from blood) and serial monitoring – making it the most powerful liquid biopsy assay ever developed.

Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Caris has offices in Phoenix, New York, Denver, Tokyo, Japan and Basel, Switzerland. Caris provides services throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia and other international markets. To learn more, please visit CarisLifeSciences.com or follow us on LinkedIn.