Topical Calcipotriene Treatment for Breast Cancer Immunoprevention

May 5, 2025 updated by: Shadmehr Demehri, Massachusetts General Hospital

A Pilot Trial of Topical Calcipotriene Treatment for Breast Cancer Immunoprevention

This research study is studying a topical ointment called calcipotriene to see if it can stimulate the immune cells against the breast lesion in ways that would prevent its recurrence after surgical removal

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Terminated

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The investigators are doing this research study to find out how topical calcipotriene ointment affect people who have breast cancer, and what impact that may have on those who are at risk of developing breast cancer in the future. The investigators hope that what they learn will lead to the development of a new medication for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer.

Abnormal breast lesions can be benign, premalignant or malignant. These lesions are being targeted by the topical calcipotriene ointment. The investigators aim to determine whether this topical treatment can stimulate the immune cells against the breast lesion in ways that would prevent its recurrence after surgical removal.

Calcipotriene ointment is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat psoriasis, but calcipotriene ointment is not approved by the FDA to treat breast cancer.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
43

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02215
        • Massachusetts General Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

50 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Participants must have histologically confirmed benign, premalignant or early malignant breast lesions on core biopsy that will proceed directly to surgical removal without any intervening neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
  • Patients diagnosed with benign breast lesions (papilloma and sclerosing lesion), flat epithelial atypia, atypical ductal hyperplasia, lobular carcinoma in situ (Tis N0 M0; stage 0), ductal carcinoma in situ (Tis N0 M0; stage 0), primary invasive ductal and lobular carcinoma (T1or2 N0or1 M0; stage I-II), who will directly receive surgery and no neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
  • Patients with hormone receptor positive, Her2 positive and triple negative cancers will be eligible.
  • Patients with multicentric and multifocal tumors will be eligible.
  • Age 45 years. To avoid the impact of menstrual cycles-associated alterations in the immune environment of the breast, the age is limited to post-menopausal women.
  • Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants scheduled to undergo neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer.
  • Participants with metastatic breast cancer.
  • Participants with history of breast cancer in the past 5 years.
  • Participants with immunosuppression (e.g., organ transplant recipients and patients with autoimmune diseases requiring immunosuppressive medications including >5mg daily prednisone, methotrexate, cyclosporine, azothioprine, tacrolimus and TNFα blocking agents)
  • Participants with the history of hypercalcemia or clinical evidence of vitamin D toxicity.
  • Participants who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 4 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C) prior to entering the study or those who have not recovered from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier.
  • Participants who are receiving any other investigational agents.
  • Participants with known brain metastases should be excluded from this clinical trial because of their poor prognosis and because they often develop progressive neurologic dysfunction that would confound the evaluation of neurologic and other adverse events.
  • History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to topical calcipotriene ointment.
  • Pregnant women are excluded from this study because topical calcipotriol ointment is a category C agent and its impact on developing fetus is unknown. In addition, premenopausal women are excluded from this study due to the impact of menstrual cycles on immune environment of the breast.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Topical Calcipotriene Ointment
-Topical Calcipotriene Ointment will be administered by the participants to their upper extremities twice a day for the period between core biopsy and surgical removal of their breast lesion
Drug: Topical Calcipotriene Ointment
Calcipotriene is a form of vitamin D. It works by slowing down the growth of skin cells.
Placebo Comparator: Topical Vaseline
-Topical Vaseline will be administered by the participants to their upper extremities twice a day for the period between core biopsy and surgical removal of their breast lesion
Other: Topical Vaseline
Placebo

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The changes in the magnitude of CD3+ T cell infiltration in tumor microenvironment
Time Frame: 3 Weeks
The change in the number of CD3+ T cells per high power microscope field in tumor microenvironment from the time of initial needle core biopsy to surgical excision.
3 Weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The comprehensive changes in tumor immune microenvironment
Time Frame: 3 Weeks
3 Weeks
The changes in tumor immune microenvironment in patients with neoplastic tumors versus benign lesions
Time Frame: 3 Weeks
3 Weeks
The changes in tumor immune microenvironment in patients with stage I-II, versus stage 0 tumors
Time Frame: 3 Weeks
3 Weeks
The changes in tumor immune microenvironment in patients with hormone receptor and Her2 positive versus triple negative tumors
Time Frame: 3 Weeks
3 Weeks
Serum Serum Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin (TSLP) levels (picogram/milliliter) before and after topical calcipotriene treatment compared to Vaseline control group
Time Frame: 3 Weeks
3 Weeks
Disease free survival
Time Frame: From the start of treatment up to 15 years
The duration of time measured from the start of treatment until the time of disease progression or death, whichever occurs first.
From the start of treatment up to 15 years
Number of Participants with Treatment Related Adverse Events
Time Frame: From the start of treatment until 30 days after the end of treatment, up to 2 months
Adverse events will be assessed using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE v4).
From the start of treatment until 30 days after the end of treatment, up to 2 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Massachusetts General Hospital

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Shadmehr Demehri, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 7, 2018

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 31, 2020

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
August 31, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
July 10, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 19, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 23, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
May 7, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 5, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
November 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 18-040

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings