Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40585251›Full record

ArticleResearch square2025

Sequencing analysis reveals evidence of immune activation in advanced HER2 negative breast cancer responders treated with entinostat + nivolumab + ipilimumab.

Evanthia Roussos Torres, Ludmila Danilova, Jospeh Tandurella, Edgar Gonzalez, Aaron Baugh, Batul Al-Zubeidy, Alexander Hopkins, Judy Murray, Melinda Downs, Luciane Kagohara and 4 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract readPreprint
In one paragraph

Article in Research square, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02453620 (A Phase 1 Study Evaluating Safety, Tolerability, and Preliminary Antitumor Activity of Entinostat and Nivolumab With or Without Ipilimumab in Advanced Solid Tumors), which is not on this 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.

NCT02453620 phase1active not recruitingnot on this map

A Phase 1 Study Evaluating Safety, Tolerability, and Preliminary Antitumor Activity of Entinostat and Nivolumab With or Without Ipilimumab in Advanced Solid Tumors

TypeinterventionalSponsorNational Cancer Institute (NCI)Ran2016 to 2026Enrolled57ConditionsAnatomic Stage III Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Anatomic Stage IV Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Breast Adenocarcinoma, Invasive Breast CarcinomaArmsBiopsy Procedure, Blood Sample, Bone Scan, Computed Tomography, Entinostat
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

14 authors.

Evanthia Roussos TorresUSC / Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.ORCID 0000-0002-0740-5102
Ludmila DanilovaJohns Hopkins.ORCID 0000-0003-2813-3094
Jospeh TandurellaJohns Hopkins.
Edgar GonzalezNorris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
Aaron BaughNorris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.ORCID 0000-0001-8763-509X
Batul Al-ZubeidyUSC / Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Alexander HopkinsDexter Biometry.ORCID 0000-0002-0817-1889
Judy MurrayJohns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Melinda DownsJohns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Luciane KagoharaJohns Hopkins University School of Medicine.ORCID 0000-0003-1706-0950
Elana FertigUniversity of Maryland.
Roisin ConnollyBreast Cancer Program, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University.ORCID 0000-0003-0056-1070
Jesse KregerDepartment of Quantitative and Computational Biology, University of Southern California.ORCID 0000-0001-6438-171X
Vered StearnsDepartment of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, Meyer Cancer Center.

Funding

Targeting myeloid suppression to enhance anti-tumor immunity in breast cancerR01CA283169 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI Evanthia Theodosiou Roussos Torres · 2023 to 2026
$2.2M
Comprehensive Analysis and Multi-Omics Data Integration for Cancer-Related StudiesR50CA243627 · NCI · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Ludmila Danilova · 2019 to 2026
$975k
NCI NIH HHS R01 CA283169NCI NIH HHS R50 CA243627
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

We analyzed the pathways associated with therapeutic response in 19 patients (5 responders) enrolled in a Phase Ib trial (NCT02453620) diagnosed with advanced HER2-negative breast cancer and treated with the HDAC inhibitor entinostat, in combination with dual immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), nivolumab and ipilimumab. The analysis included gene expression and T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire data derived from bulk RNA-seq and neoantigen data from whole exome sequencing. A total of 37 tumor biopsies were taken from six different metastatic sites at three timepoints: before treatment (baseline), after a two-week entinostat run-in (C1D1), and after the dual ICIs were added (week 8). Paired differential gene expression (DE) analysis between different timepoints revealed changes in immune-related pathways, such as interferon gamma and inflammatory response, IL6/JAK/STAT3 and IL2/STAT5 signaling, and allograft rejection after week 8 of triplet treatment. The DE analysis of response at each timepoint also revealed significant changes at baseline in immune-related pathways, such as inflammatory and interferon alpha and gamma responses, suggesting that responders may have had a preexisting immune tumor microenvironment (TME) that primed them for triplet therapy. Further analysis of the TME revealed significantly higher expression of genes representative of subsets of CD8+ T and plasma cells after entinostat treatment, indicating potential mechanisms of TME sensitization by HDACi. Genes representative of M1-like macrophages, pDC, memory CD4+ T, B, NK, lymphatic endothelial, Th1 cells, and memory B cells were significantly altered in responders after triplet treatment. PAM50 molecular subtype analysis revealed that basal and luminal B subtypes correlate with response. TCR analysis demonstrated higher diversity, and exploratory analysis of strong binding neoantigens showed fewer strong neoantigen binders in responders at week 8. In summary, the sequencing analysis reveals important changes in the immune landscape of responders to the combined treatment of entinostat and ICIs and suggests that pretreatment with entinostat may sensitize the immune TME to promote response.

Identifiers

PMID40585251
PMCPMC12204493

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Registered trials

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 OpenQuestion graph.