Cancer Peptides Plus GM-CSF and Adjuvant in Breast Cancer

February 26, 2026 updated by: Herbert Lyerly

A Phase I Study of Cancer Peptides Plus GM-CSF and Adjuvant Following Completion of Prescribed Systemic Therapy of Estrogen Receptor Positive Breast Cancer

This is a phase I study looking at the safety of cancer peptides combined with adjuvant and GM-CSF in subjects with estrogen receptor (ESR) positive breast cancer. The primary objective of the study is to determine the safety of of the peptide vaccine. The secondary objective is to evaluate the immune response to the vaccine. The peptides used in this vaccine are derived from the estrogen receptor and are combined with the adjuvant Montanide ISA and GM-CSF to enhance their immune response. A peptide vaccine of these peptides may improve outcomes of patients with endocrine resistant breast cancer.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

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.

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.
8

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 Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • North Carolina
      • Durham, North Carolina, United States, 27710
        • Duke University Medical Center

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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with histologically confirmed, resected, breast cancer with one of the following characteristics:

pT3 or greater T stage with any N stage and M0 pTxN+M0 (i.e., N1,2 or 3)

  • HLA A0201+ and tumor is ER+
  • Patients must have completed any standard chemotherapy recommended by their physician. There must be at least 4 weeks from their last dose of chemotherapy (or surgery if no chemotherapy was given) prior to the first dose of study vaccine. There should be no more than 5 years from the time of completion of any chemotherapy, surgery or HER2 targeted therapy. Ongoing endocrine therapies are permitted as long as they have been administered for at least 3 months prior to study enrollment.
  • Age ≥ 18 years.
  • Heme: WBC ≥ 3000/microliter, hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL, platelets ≥ 80,000/microliter.
  • Adequate, renal and hepatic function with serum creatinine < 1.5 mg/dL, bilirubin < 1.5 mg/dL (except a bilirubin of <2.0 will be permitted for patents with Gilbert's syndrome), SGOT/SGPT < 2 x upper limit of normal.
  • Ability to understand and provide signed informed consent that fulfills Institutional Review Board's guidelines.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects with concurrent chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or immunotherapy are excluded. There must be at least 4 weeks between these prior therapy and study treatment. Subjects must have recovered from all acute toxicities from prior treatment. Peripheral neuropathy grade 1 due to prior therapy will be permitted.
  • Subjects may not have history of distant metastases.
  • Subjects with a history of autoimmune disease, such as but not restricted to, inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis, scleroderma, or multiple sclerosis. A positive ANA (anti-nuclear antibody) test without other evidence of autoimmune disease will not exclude a subject for this study. A prior history of autoimmune hypothyroidism will not exclude a subject.
  • Subjects with serious intercurrent chronic or acute illness, such as cardiac disease, (NYHA class III or IV), hepatic disease, or other illness considered by the Principal Investigator as unwarranted high risk for investigational drug treatment.
  • Subjects with a medical or psychological impediment to probable compliance with the
  • Concurrent (or within the last 5 years) second malignancy other than non-melanoma skin cancer, cervical carcinoma in situ, controlled carcinoma in situ of the cervix, or controlled superficial bladder cancer.
  • Presence of an active acute or chronic infection including: an urinary tract infection, HIV (as determined by ELISA and confirmed by Western Blot) or viral hepatitis (as determined by HBsAg and Hepatitis C serology). Subjects with HIV are excluded based on immuno-suppression, which may render them unable to respond to the vaccine; subjects with chronic hepatitis are excluded because of concern that hepatitis could be exacerbated by the injections.
  • Subjects on steroid therapy (or other immuno-suppressives, such as azathioprine or cyclosporin A) are excluded on the basis of potential immune suppression. Subjects must have had 6 weeks of discontinuation of any steroid therapy (except that used as pre-medication for chemotherapy or contrast-enhanced studies) prior to enrollment.
  • Subjects with allergies to any component of the vaccine
  • Pregnant or nursing mothers.
  • Subjects with acute or chronic skin disorders that will interfere with peptide injection into the skin of the extremities or subsequent assessment of potential skin reactions will be excluded.
  • Splenectomy

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: Other
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

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: ESR1 peptide vaccine
200 mcg ESR1 peptides plus 1ml Montanide and 100 mcg GM-CSF administered subcutaneously weeks 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 for a total of 6 injections.
Biological: ESR1 peptide vaccine
ESR1 peptides plus Montanide and GM-CSF

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
Number of Adverse Events
Time Frame: 44 days
Safety
44 days

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
detection of ESR mutant-specific memory T cells against at least one of the 5 immunizing peptides by Cytof analysis
Time Frame: 2 years
Detection of memory T cells
2 years

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.
Herbert Lyerly

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.
September 1, 2020

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.
May 30, 2025

Study Completion (Estimated)

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 1, 2027

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).
February 12, 2020

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.
February 12, 2020

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.
February 17, 2020

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.
February 27, 2026

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.
February 26, 2026

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.
October 1, 2025

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.
  • Pro00104868

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.

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