Chemotherapy Exemption in Elderly Women With Node-Positive ER+/HER2- Breast Cancer (ELDER)

September 12, 2026 updated by: Zhimin Shao, Fudan University

A Prospective, Open-Label, Single-Arm Phase II Clinical Trial to Explore Chemotherapy Exemption in Elderly Women Aged 65 Years or Older With Lymph Node-Positive ER+/HER2- Breast Cancer

This study is a prospective, open-label, multicenter, single-arm Phase II clinical trial. Based on the use of CDK4/6 inhibitors in endocrine-sensitive luminal-type (ER+/HER2-) breast cancer, it aims to explore the possibility of chemotherapy exemption in elderly patients (aged >65 years) with lymph node-positive, HR+/HER2- breast cancer.

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.

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.
494

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 Contact Backup

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

  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

- 1. Age: Female patients aged ≥65 years. 2. Disease Status: Histologically confirmed early-stage breast cancer after surgery with ER expression ≥50% AND one of the following:

  1. ≥4 positive lymph nodes
  2. 1-3 positive lymph nodes plus at least one of the following high-risk features: i. High-risk multigene assay result ii. Primary tumor size >2 cm iii. Histologic grade 3 iv. Lymphovascular invasion (LVI) positive v. Ki-67 >20% 3. Treatment Acceptance: Willing to receive adjuvant CDK4/6 inhibitor therapy. 4. Performance Status: ECOG score 0-2. 5. Adequate Organ Function:

a) Hematology (within 14 days, no transfusion): i. Hemoglobin (Hb) ≥90 g/L ii. Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥1.5×10⁹/L iii. Platelets (PLT) ≥100×10⁹/L b) Biochemistry: i. Total bilirubin (TBIL) ≤1.5×ULN ii. ALT/AST ≤3×ULN iii. Serum creatinine (Cr) ≤1×ULN iv. Estimated creatinine clearance (CrCl) >50 mL/min (Cockcroft-Gault formula) 6. Consent & Compliance: Willing to participate, sign informed consent, and comply with follow-up.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who have received neoadjuvant therapy (including chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiotherapy, or endocrine therapy).

    2. Bilateral breast cancer. 3. History of other malignancies, except: Cured basal cell carcinoma of the skin； Carcinoma in situ of the cervix 4. Distant metastasis (any site). 5. Any T4 lesion (UICC 1987 TNM staging), including: Skin invasion; Fixed mass adherence; Inflammatory breast cancer 6. Concurrent participation in other clinical trials. 7. Severe organ dysfunction (cardiac, pulmonary, hepatic, or renal), including:

    a) LVEF <50% (by echocardiography) b) Major cardiovascular/cerebrovascular events within 6 months before randomization: i. Unstable angina ii. Chronic heart failure iii. Uncontrolled hypertension (>150/90 mmHg) iv. Myocardial infarction or stroke c) Poorly controlled diabetes mellitus d) Severe hypertension 8. Known allergy to taxane-based drugs or their excipients. 9. Severe or uncontrolled infections. 10. History of psychoactive drug abuse (unable to abstain) or psychiatric disorders.

    11. Patients deemed ineligible by investigator assessment. 12. Refusal to receive adjuvant CDK4/6 inhibitor therapy.

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: Chemo-free
A chemotherapy-sparing approach using CDK4/6 inhibitor combined with aromatase inhibitor (minimum 5-year duration).
Drug: CDK4/6 inhibitor
(abemaciclib/ribociclib/dalpiciclib/palbociclib)
Drug: Endocrine Therapy (Optional)
Endocrine therapy (letrozole/anastrozole/exemestane)

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
5-years Invasive disease free survival
Time Frame: 5 years
5-year invasive disease-free survival (iDFS), defined as the time from randomization to the first occurrence of: local recurrence, distant metastasis, contralateral invasive breast cancer, death from any cause.
5 years

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
Overall Survival (OS)
Time Frame: Approximately 5 years
OS is defined as the time from randomisation until the date of death due to any cause.
Approximately 5 years
Clinical Frailty Scale
Time Frame: Up to approximately 3 years
Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS, version 2.0)
Up to approximately 3 years
Safety including adverse events (AEs), severe adverse events (SAEs) and adverse events of special interest (AESI).
Time Frame: Up to approximately 3 years
ncidence of AEs, SAE, AESIs (interstitial lung disease, LVEF decrease), AEs resulting in study intervention interruption and discontinuation, etc.
Up to approximately 3 years
Geriatric assessment (G-8)
Time Frame: Up to approximately 3 years
Modified Geriatric-8 (G-8) screening tool
Up to approximately 3 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.
Fudan University

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: zhiming shao, Fudan University

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 15, 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 30, 2031

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.
October 1, 2035

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).
September 12, 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.
September 12, 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.
September 17, 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.
September 17, 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.
September 12, 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.
September 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.
  • SCHBCC-N0120

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

No

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