Sharma P, Barlow WE, Godwin AK, et al. - Whether two biomarkers, a 44-gene DNA damage immune response (DDIR) signature and stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs), could be independently validated as prognostic markers in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) managed with adjuvant doxorubicin (A) and cyclophosphamide (C) was determined in SWOG 9313. Researchers identified 425 centrally determined patient cases with TNBC from S9313. They used RNA isolated from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor tissue to perform DDIR signature and grouped samples as DDIR negative or positive based on predefined cutoffs. They assessed sTILs as described previously. Findings corroborated the prognostic role of sTILs and DDIR in early-stage TNBC. Among patients with TNBC treated with adjuvant AC, two thirds had improved prognosis conferred by DDIR signature. Findings are suggestive of the potential of DDIR signature for stratifying the outcome and for detecting the patients with less projected benefit following AC chemotherapy.