Trial of Pre-operative Neratinib and Endocrine Therapy With Trastuzumab in ER-Positive, HER-2 Positive Breast Cancers

An Open Label, Phase II Trial of Pre-operative Neratinib and Endocrine Therapy With Trastuzumab in ER-Positive, HER-2 Positive Cancers Hoosier Cancer Research Network BRE17-141

Patient will be treated with neratinib, an aromatase inhibitor and trastuzumab for 24 weeks prior to surgery, following an initial 3 weeks of neratinib alone, aromatase inhibitor alone or the combination of neratinib and an aromatase inhibitor. A breast biopsy will be performed prior to Day 1 of week 4 of treatment. Following surgery, patients will receive standard of care HER2-directed and endocrine therapy at the treating physician's discretion.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Breast Cancer; HER2-positive Breast Cancer; ER Positive Breast Cancer; PR-Positive Breast Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Neratinib; Drug: Letrozole (L) or Anastrozole (A); Drug: Trastuzumab

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 30
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Ruth O'Regan, MD; Phone Number: 608-265-9701; Email: ruth_oregan@urmc.rochester.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Amber Ryba; Phone Number: 34 317-634-5842; Email: aryba@hoosiercancer.org

Study Locations

• United States
  • Illinois
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60612
      • Recruiting
      • University of Illinois Cancer Center
      • Principal Investigator: Oana Danciu, MD
  • New York
    • Rochester, New York, United States, 14642
      • Recruiting
      • University of Rochester Medical Center
      • Contact: Lisa Carrozzi, OCN; Phone Number: 585-533-1905; Email: lisa_carrozzi@urmc.rochester.edu
      • Contact: Kathleen Pratt; Phone Number: 585-533-1908; Email: kathleen_pratt@urmc.rochester.edu
      • Principal Investigator: Ruth O'Regan, MD
  • Pennsylvania
    • Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States, 17033
      • Recruiting
      • Penn State Cancer Institute
      • Contact: Cindy Brown; Email: cbrown18@pennstatehealth.psu.edu
      • Principal Investigator: Monali Vasekar, MD
  • Wisconsin
    • Madison, Wisconsin, United States, 53705
      • Recruiting
      • University of Wisconsin
      • Principal Investigator: Kari Wisinski, MD
      • Contact: UW Cancer Connect; Phone Number: 800-622-8922

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Subject must meet all of the following applicable inclusion criteria to participate in this study:

• Written informed consent and HIPAA authorization for release of personal health information. NOTE: HIPAA authorization may be included in the informed consent or obtained separately.
• Age ≥ 18 years at the time of consent.
• Postmenopausal females. NOTE: Postmenopausal status defined as: prior bilateral oophorectomy, Age ≥ 60 years, or Age < 60 years and amenorrhea for 12 or more months in the absence of chemotherapy, tamoxifen, toremifene, or ovarian suppression) or an estradiol level in postmenopausal ranges per local reference range.
• ECOG Performance Status of 0-2 within 28 days prior to registration.
• Anatomic, clinical stage I-III, invasive breast cancer, greater than 10mm
• HER2-positive (by the most recent ASCO-CAP criteria)
• ER positive (≥ 10%). NOTE: There is no requirement for PR status; PR positive or negative allowed.
• Resectable breast cancer in which pre-operative therapy is appropriate (T > 10mm and/or node-positive).
• Archival tissue from the diagnostic pre-treatment biopsy is required. This sample should be identified at screening and shipped by Week 4. If archival tissue is not available, the subject is not eligible for the study.
• Agreeable to repeat breast biopsy at 3 weeks after initiation of treatment.
• Candidate for either letrozole or anastrozole, as determined by the treating physician
• Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥ 50% as assessed by echocardiogram (ECHO) or multi-gated acquisition scan (MUGA) documented within 4 weeks prior to the study treatment.

• Demonstrate adequate organ function as defined below; all screening labs to be obtained within 28 days prior to registration.

  • Hematological

    • Platelet count ≥100,000/uL
    • Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) ≥1500/uL
    • Hemoglobin (Hgb) ≥10 g/dL

  • Renal

    ---Calculated creatinine clearance: CrCl ≥30 mL/min using the Cockcroft-Gault formula

  • Hepatic

    • Bilirubin ≤1.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN)
    • Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ≤ 2.5 × ULN
    • Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤ 2.5 × ULN
• HIV-infected patients on effective anti-retroviral therapy with undetectable viral load within 6 months of registration are eligible for this trial.
• For patients with known serologic evidence of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, the HBV viral load must be undetectable on suppressive therapy, if indicated. Patients with a history of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection must have been treated and cured. For patients with HCV infection who are currently on treatment, the HCV viral load must be undetectable to be eligible for this trial.
• Ability of the subject to understand and comply with study procedures for the entire length of the study, as determined by the enrolling physician or protocol designee.

Exclusion Criteria:

Subjects meeting any of the criteria below may not participate in the study:

• Locally advanced or inflammatory breast cancer. NOTE: Locally advanced is defined as Stage IIIC or greater.
• Evidence of metastatic disease. Systemic imaging is not required.
• 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: exceptions include basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer, in situ cervical or bladder cancer, or other cancer for which the subject has been disease-free for at least five years.
• Active infection requiring systemic therapy.
• Requirement for use of a moderate or strong CYP3A4 inhibitor or inducer during the study (see protocol).
• Treatment with any investigational drug within 14 days prior to registration or within 5 half-lives of the investigational product, whichever is longer.
• Subject has had major surgery within 14 days prior to registration or has not recovered from major side effects of the surgery (tumor biopsy is not considered as major surgery).
• Any impairment of gastrointestinal (GI) function or GI disease that may significantly alter the absorption of study drugs (e.g., ulcerative diseases, uncontrolled nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, malabsorption syndrome, or small bowel resection) or significantly impair the ability to swallow capsules/tablets.
• Known history of myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeloid leukemia.

• Subjects with any of the following conditions:

  • History of abdominal fistula, gastrointestinal perforation, or intra- abdominal abscess within 28 days prior to registration.
  • Any history of cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or transient ischemic attack within 12 months prior to registration.
  • History of acute coronary syndromes (including myocardial infarction, unstable angina, coronary artery bypass grafting, coronary angioplasty, or stenting) or symptomatic pericarditis within 6 months prior to registration.
  • Symptomatic congestive heart failure (New York Heart Association III-IV) or documented current cardiomyopathy with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <50%.
  • Clinically significant cardiac ventricular arrhythmias (e.g. sustained ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation) or high-grade AV block (e.g. bifascicular block, Mobitz type II and third-degree AV block) unless a pacemaker is in place.
  • Long QT syndrome or family history of idiopathic sudden death or congenital long QT syndrome.
• Any concurrent severe and/or uncontrolled medical condition that would, in the investigator's judgment, cause unacceptable safety risks, contraindicate subject participation in the clinical study or compromise compliance with the protocol.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: A; Weeks 1-3* patients receive either (a) Neratinib, (b) Letrozole or Anastrozole or (c) Neratinib + Letrozole or Anastrozole Weeks 4-24 patients receive Neratinib + Letrozole or Anastrozole and Trastuzumab *Starting drug intervention varies for the first 3 weeks depending on arms: a, b, and c by randomization.

Drug: Neratinib; 120mg for 7 days; 160mg for 7 days ; 240mg for 7 days. 240 mg (up to a maximum of 24 weeks) orally daily*.; Other Names: Nerlynx; Drug: Letrozole (L) or Anastrozole (A); L: (2.5 mg) OR A: (1 mg) orally daily (up to a maximum of 24 weeks)*; Other Names: Femara; Arimidex; Drug: Trastuzumab; All Arms 8mg/kg loading dose followed by 6mg/kg every 3 weeks administered every 3 weeks by IV starting wk 4. Trastuzumab biosimilars may be used per institutional guidelines.; Other Names: Herceptin

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pathologic Complete Response (pCR)	pCR is defined as the lack of all signs of invasive cancer in the breast removed during surgery	24 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Assess Adverse Events	Assess the adverse events of neratinib in combination with NSAI in subjects	24 weeks
Pathological Complete Response (pCR)	Estimate the pCR (ypT0/Tis ypN0) in the breast tissue and lymph nodes	24 weeks
Measure Residual Disease	Estimate residual disease in the breast tissue	24 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ruth O'Regan
• Collaborators: University of Rochester; Puma Biotechnology, Inc.
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ruth O'Regan, MD, University of Rochester

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 21, 2022
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 22, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 21, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 10, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 10, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): May 14, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 8, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 2, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Skin Diseases; Breast Diseases; Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases; Breast Neoplasms; Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins; Proteins; Organic Chemicals; Heterocyclic Compounds, 1-Ring; Heterocyclic Compounds; Azoles; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Antibodies; Immunoglobulins; Immunoproteins; Blood Proteins; Serum Globulins; Globulins; Nitriles; Triazoles; Trastuzumab; Letrozole; Anastrozole; neratinib
• Other Study ID Numbers: HCRN BRE17-141

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