TGF-βetter than yours.

This month’s report from Wake Forest indicates CRP may be a useful biomarker for skin toxicity following breast radiation. Never to lose the limelight for long when it comes to single-institution series, MD Anderson has now published its own prospective experience evaluating biomarkers for breast toxicity. Nested in a prospective trial comparing fractionation schemes for intact breast radiation was a pre-specified hypothesis that mutations in the TGF-β1 gene would impact rates of breast fibrosis. There was data available on both genetics and toxicities for 174 of the 287 women enrolled in the trial, and 89 of these (51%) had a the TGF-β1 mutation of interest: a C→T SNP at position 509. As hypothesized, the rate of at least grade 2 breast fibrosis was more than triple for those with (14%) versus without (4%) the TGF-β1 mutation. TBL: Look out for a radiation toxicity score in the next iteration of genomic tests for breast cancer. | Grossberg, JAMA Oncol 2018