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.
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.