Targeting Aurora A Kinase to Overcome Treatment Resistance in Advanced HR+/HER2+ Breast Cancer

August 25, 2026 updated by: University of Wisconsin, Madison

Targeting Aurora A Kinase to Overcome Treatment Resistance in Advanced HR+/HER2+ Breast Cancer: A Biomarker-Driven Pilot Clinical Trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if alisertib in addition to usual care works to treat HR+/HER2+ breast cancer. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Does alisertib stop the communication between HR and HER2?
  • Are there genetic markers that predict how well someone's cancer will respond to alisertib?

Participants will receive alisertib in addition to their usual care.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet 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.

Detailed Description

This pilot clinical trial will evaluate alisertib in combination with standard of care endocrine therapy and Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor-2 (HER2)-targeted therapy in participants with Stage IV hormone receptor positive (HR+)/ HER2 positive (HER2+) breast cancer, utilizing our novel 3-gene biomarker signature for patient selection and response prediction

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 (Estimated)

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.
10

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 2

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 Locations

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age > 18 years at the time of consent.
  • ECOG performance status </=2 (Karnofsky >/=60%).
  • Metastatic HR+/HER2+ breast cancer (estrogen receptor (ER) and/or progesterone receptor (PR) ≥1%, HER2 3+ by immunohistochemistry (IHC) or amplified by in situ hybridization (ISH).
  • Prior standard induction treatment with chemotherapy + trastuzumab + pertuzumab (HP) or fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) and have completed a minimum of 4 cycles without progressive disease.
  • Planned to start or are receiving endocrine therapy + HER2-directed (HP or pertuzumab/trastuzumab/hyaluronidase-zzxf (PHESGO®)) therapy.
  • Demonstrate adequate organ function; all screening labs to be obtained within 28 days prior to registration.
  • Left ventricular ejection fraction ≥ 50% as assessed by echocardiogram (ECHO) or multi-gated acquisition scan (MUGA) documented within 6 weeks prior to the study treatment.
  • Patients must have measurable disease by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors volume 1.1 (RECIST 1.1) or evaluable disease with circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) that is detectible. Measurable disease is defined as at least one lesion that can be accurately measured in at least one dimension (longest diameter to be recorded for non-nodal lesions and short axis for nodal lesions) as ≥20 mm (≥2 cm) by chest x-ray or as ≥10 mm (≥1 cm) with CT scan, MRI, or calipers by clinical exam.
  • Willingness to receive growth factor injections for neutropenia prophylaxis. Only patients without any grade 3 or higher neutropenia during induction chemotherapy or T-DXd will be permitted to proceed without prophylactic growth factor support. If the enrolled patients in this trial develop high grade or prolonged neutropenia, the addition of growth factor will be required.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Active infection requiring systemic therapy.
  • Patients with a prior or concurrent malignancy whose natural history or treatment has the potential to interfere with the safety or efficacy assessment of the investigational regimen are not eligible for this trial.
  • Treatment with any investigational drug within 14 days prior to registration, or within 5 half-lives of the investigational product, whichever is longer.

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: 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: Alisertib plus standard of care
Participants receive alisertib in addition to usual care
Drug: Alisertib
Alisertib 40mg on days 1-7 of 21-day cycles for 4 cycles

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
Clinical benefit defined as partial tumor response (PR)
Time Frame: 12 weeks
As defined by RECIST 1.1. Changes in the largest diameter (unidimensional measurement) of the tumor lesions and the shortest diameter in the case of malignant lymph nodes are used in the RECIST criteria. PR is at least a 30% decrease in the sum of the diameters of target lesions, taking as reference the baseline sum diameters.
12 weeks
Clinical benefit defined as complete tumor response (CR)
Time Frame: 12 weeks
As defined by RECIST 1.1 Changes in the largest diameter (unidimensional measurement) of the tumor lesions and the shortest diameter in the case of malignant lymph nodes are used in the RECIST criteria. CR is disappearance of all target lesions. Any pathological lymph nodes (whether target or non-target) must have reduction in short axis to <10 mm
12 weeks
Clinical benefit defined as decline in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Clinical benefit is defined as a decline in ctDNA by >50%.
12 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
Evaluate safety of adding alisertib to usual care by assessing adverse events
Time Frame: 12 weeks
To assess safety, adverse events related to alisertib will be assessed. They will be assessed using CTCAE v6.0.
12 weeks
BRD8 signature expression
Time Frame: 12 weeks
The 3-gene BRD8 signature (BRD8/AFF3/RBM24) will be evaluated as a predictive biomarker for response to alisertib combination therapy.
12 weeks

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.
University of Wisconsin, Madison

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: Kari Wisinski, MD, University of Wisconsin, Madison

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 (Estimated)

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, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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.
September 1, 2028

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.
September 1, 2028

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 9, 2026

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 9, 2026

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 15, 2026

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.
August 26, 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.
August 25, 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.
August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

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.
  • 2026-0872
  • UW26020 (Other Identifier: UW Madison)
  • Protocol Version 5/22/26 (Other Identifier: UW Madison)
  • UWMSN | SMPH | DOM-Administrat (Other Identifier: UW Madison)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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