Impact of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy on the Peripheral Blood Immune Phenotype in Operable Breast Cancer (ENHANCE)

Evaluating the Impact of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy on the Peripheral Blood Immune Phenotype in Patients With Operable Breast Cancer (ENHANCE)

This early phase I trial evaluates the impact of chemotherapy before surgery (neoadjuvant) on the peripheral blood immune phenotype in patients with operable breast cancer. Collecting blood and information from patients with breast cancer may help to understand how the immune system influences response to treatment, and how the immune system reacts to breast cancer treatment.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Invasive Breast Carcinoma
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: Biospecimen Collection

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To evaluate whether pre-neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) peripheral blood immune phenotypes (defined by mass cytometry) are associated with pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with operable breast cancer.

II. To evaluate whether the baseline peripheral blood immune phenotype differs between patients with breast cancer and age-matched healthy controls.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To characterize changes in the baseline peripheral blood immune phenotype that arise as a consequence of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

II. To create a biorepository of peripheral blood samples for future research in breast cancer, including circulating tumor deoxyribonucleic acid (ctDNA), epigenetic and functional studies.

EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVE:

I. To evaluate differences in peripheral blood immune phenotype of patients with oligometastatic breast cancer compared to patients with stage I-III breast cancer.

OUTLINE:

Patients undergo blood sample collection at baseline (prior to first NAC treatment), after taxane and prior to first dose of anthracycline/cyclophosphamide (A/C) (for patients receiving a taxane), end of NAC, 1-4 weeks and 6 months post-surgery. Patients also undergo tissue collection at 1-4 weeks and 6 months post-surgery.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up every 6 months for up to 5 years.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 38

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Minnesota
    • Rochester, Minnesota, United States, 55905
      • Mayo Clinic in Rochester

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients with histologically confirmed, operable, invasive breast cancer

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age >= 18 years
• Histologically confirmed, operable, invasive breast cancer. Note: Patients with oligometastatic breast cancer (up to 3 isolated distant metastases) will be eligible after review and approval by principal investigator (PI)
• Recommended to receive neoadjuvant systemic treatment by their primary medical oncologist and planning to receive one of the regimens
• Provide written informed consent
• Willing to return to Mayo Clinic for breast cancer surgery
• Willingness to provide mandatory blood specimens for future research on breast cancer at Mayo Clinic

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who have already initiated neoadjuvant chemotherapy for the current malignancy
• Inability to provide blood samples based on the judgement of the treating physician
• Inability to comply with the protocol
• Patient is pregnant or plans to become pregnant

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Case-Only
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Basic science (biospecimen collection); Patients undergo blood sample collection at baseline (prior to first NAC treatment), after taxane and prior to first dose of A/C (for patients receiving a taxane), end of NAC, 1-4 weeks and 6 months post-surgery. Patients also undergo tissue collection at 1-4 weeks and 6 months post-surgery.	Procedure: Biospecimen Collection; Undergo blood and tissue collection; Other Names: Biological Sample Collection; Biospecimen Collected; Specimen Collection

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Association of peripheral blood immune phenotypes with pathological complete response	For each of the ten unique family subtypes, and individual cell population within a histological subtype, will utilize a logistic regression model to identify those markers measured at baseline that are predictive of achieving a pathological complete response. Will also perform classification and regression trees (CART) modeling to get at the interplay of the markers (i.e. cell subtypes), which are all uniformly expressed as percentages.	Up to 5 years
Difference of peripheral blood immune phenotypes	Will be assessed between patients with breast cancer and age-matched healthy controls. Will compare the average difference in the baseline marker expression between the cases and age-matched healthy controls using a two-sample t-test. The two-sample t-test will be used to test the null hypothesis of no difference in means against the alternative hypothesis that there is a difference in means; the two-sided P-value will be reported. Will also perform CART modeling as in the first co-primary objective to get at the interplay of the markers.	Up to 5 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in baseline peripheral blood immune phenotype as a consequence of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC)	Will calculate the absolute change for each of the 30 markers, including grouped by the ten unique family subsets. In this largely descriptive analysis, within each histologic subtype, the expression levels will be graphically displayed over time (e.g. plotting the median at each of the three occasions, as well as plotting the mean change from baseline at post-NAC and post-surgery; the patient-level trajectories will be superimposed. Because this is a hypothesis generating objective, all data will be graphed and tabulated and any inferential statistics calculated will be limited and should be interpreted with caution.	Baseline up to 2-4 weeks post-surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Mayo Clinic
• Collaborators: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Roberto A. Leon-Ferre, M.D., Mayo Clinic in Rochester

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Mayo Clinic Clinical Trials

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 9, 2021
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 8, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 8, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 18, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 18, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): May 21, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 25, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 23, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Skin Diseases; Breast Diseases; Breast Neoplasms; Investigative Techniques; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures; Diagnosis; Specimen Handling
• Other Study ID Numbers: MC200302 (Mayo Clinic in Rochester); NCI-2021-04162 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program)); P50CA116201 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); 20-010563 (Other Identifier: Mayo Clinic Institutional Review Board)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No