Titles and Affiliations
Professor, Department of Oncology
Director and Professor Gerald O’Sullivan Chair, Cancer Research
Adjunct Associate Professor of Medical Oncology, Johns Hopkins University
Research area
Investigating whether the tumor immune microenvironment and microbiome can predict response to immunotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer.
Impact
The standard treatment for early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) combines an immune checkpoint inhibitor, pembrolizumab, with chemotherapy before surgery, an approach that improves survival but can come with significant short- and long-term side effects. Emerging research in other cancers suggests that the community of bacteria living in and around tumors, known as the microbiome, can influence how the immune system responds to cancer and to immunotherapy specifically. This relationship remains largely unexplored in breast cancer. Dr. Connolly is investigating whether biomarkers related to the immune environment surrounding tumors and microbiome can help identify which patients are most likely to benefit from this immunotherapy-chemotherapy combination, with the goal of personalizing treatment and minimizing side effects while maintaining efficacy.
Progress Thus Far
Dr. Connolly and her team have nearly completed their analysis of biobanked breast cancer samples for immune and microbial evaluation, which has yielded important insights into the challenges of identifying bacterial signatures in stored breast tumor tissue. They are nearing completion of a complementary imaging analysis of the tumor and its surrounding environment. This work informs the team’s clinical trial MINA (Microbiome Immunotherapy Neoadjuvant Assessment, NCT06709651) which continues to recruit participants. In parallel, recognizing the needs of patients with advanced breast cancer, Dr. Connolly’s team has developed a new study called Melody that will use liquid biopsies, including repeated blood draws to detect emerging drug-resistance gene mutations, alongside analysis of the gut microbiome in both patients and their household members. Dr. Connolly’s overarching goal is to ensure that patients with TNBC have a personalized approach to breast cancer treatment.
What’s Next
Dr. Connolly and her colleagues will complete their analysis of patient samples to understand how the immune system and microbiome respond to treatment in TNBC and will continue recruiting participants to the MINA study. The team will also work to activate the Melody clinical trial for patients with advanced breast cancer, developed in partnership with scientists and patient advocates, helping generate new insights that can guide future treatment strategies.
Biography
Roisin Connolly, MD is the Professor Gerald O’Sullivan Chair in Cancer Research at University of College Cork (UCC) and Cork University Hospital (CUH). She is also the Director of Cancer Research at UCC, a Principal Investigator with Cancer Trials Cork at CUH, and assumed the role of Co-Chair of the Cancer Trials Ireland Breast Disease Specific Group in 2020. Prior to this, she was an associate professor of Oncology (Women’s Malignancy Program) from 2011, and Co-Director of the Developmental Therapeutics Program at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Connolly graduated with a “first-class honors” medical degree from Trinity College, Dublin in 2001 and completed medical oncology fellowship training in both Ireland and at Johns Hopkins.
As a medical oncologist and clinical investigator, Dr. Connolly has significant expertise in the development of biomarkers of response to anti-cancer therapies, and the design and conduct of clinical trials that test investigational new drugs in the treatment of patients with both early- and late-stage cancers. In fact, she has led numerous multicenter clinical trials in collaboration with the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium (TBCRC), and the Eastern Co-operative Oncology Group (ECOG-ACRIN) in the U.S. Dr. Connolly is Study Chair for the international phase III ECOG-ACRIN study and received the prestigious ECOG-ACRIN Young Investigator Award in 2019 for excellence in clinical investigation. She has also recently received an Irish Cancer Society grant to support a Women’s Cancer Survivorship Clinic in Cork, in collaboration with national and international teams.
Dr. Connolly has been awarded a Health Research Board grant to support the UCC Cancer Trials Group, a network of clinical trials units in the South of Ireland. Through this funding, she will lead the expansion and availability of innovative clinical trials and investigator-led clinical projects to reach patients in this region. In addition, this award will focus on training the next generation of cancer researchers and research staff. In 2022, she received dedicated funding for clinical research fellowships from Breakthrough Cancer Research.
