Monitoring Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Response In Breast Cancer Patients Using Diffuse Optical Spectroscopic Imaging (DOSI)

DOSI has already shown promise in monitoring breast cancer patients undergoing preoperative chemotherapy. Several groups have demonstrated optical changes predictive of response in the course of weeks to months of treatment. The investigators group has begun to show that DOSI measurements during drug infusions and at early time-points (first 24 hours) correlate with tumor final pathological response. While this data is provocative, significantly more work is needed to confirm that early time-points are predictive in different treatment groups and tumor molecular subtypes.

In this study, breast cancer patients will receive DOSI scans at a subset or all of the following time-points: baseline, during drug infusion, early therapy, mid-therapy and post-therapy. DOSI results will be compared to standard of care pathology results determined after surgery. Additionally, the investigators will correlate DOSI parameters with any additional biopsy specimens taken during treatment (typically for patients on adaptive treatment trials). Each DOSI scan will take about 30-60 minutes/ session, although infusion measurements will take longer. DOSI can potentially help doctors to gain information necessary to make evidence-based changes in treatment strategies of individual patients. The investigators long-term goal is to provide oncologists with a relatively simple, risk-free bedside tool that can help predict response early, thereby maximizing therapeutic response and minimizing unnecessary toxicity.

A cohort of 10 additional patients with breast cancer who are not receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) who will only be measured at baseline has been created. Complete characterization of baseline properties in patients is essential for understanding subsequent changes from baseline in response to chemotherapy. Adding an additional 10 patients who are not receiving NAC to be enrolled will allow for better characterization of baseline properties, which in turn will allow for a better understanding of the changes in properties seen in those patients who are undergoing NAC.