Project Details
Projekt
Translational therapy monitoring of locally advanced or metastatic triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) with 18F-FDG PET-CT and liquid biopsy in immunotherapy
Applicants
Professor Dr. Clemens Cyran; Dr. Thomas Geyer; Professor Dr. Andreas Jung; Professorin Dr. Rachel Würstlein
Subject Area
Radiology
Term
since 2025
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 560710182
Immune checkpoint blockade agents represent a major advancement in cancer therapy. In patients with locally advanced or metastatic triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), first-line therapy with combined nab-paclitaxel and atezolizumab is well accepted and commonly used in clinical routine. However, validated criteria to predict and monitor clinical response to therapy are still not clinically established. Most cancer treatment response evaluations of immunotherapy are based on CT-changes in tumor size according to morphological criteria such as iRECIST. Hybrid imaging with 18F-FDG PET/CT allows for increased diagnostic accuracy in tumor staging of patients with breast cancer. Furthermore, liquid biopsy offers a modern approach for the assessment of biomarkers in peripheral blood of breast cancer patients. This study aims to combine diagnostic data from imaging and liquid biopsy to serve as prognostic biomarkers and biomarkers of early therapy response in guiding clinical decision making in TNBC patients under immunotherapy.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
