A Study to Evaluate the Intratumoral Influenza Vaccine Administration in Patients With Breast Cancer

March 9, 2026 updated by: Ruta Rao, Rush University Medical Center

A Phase I Study to Evaluate the Intratumoral Influenza Vaccine Administration in Patients With Breast Cancer

This Phase 1 study will assess the safety and efficacy (usefulness) of administering 2 doses of seasonal flu vaccine directly into breast cancer tissue (primary tumor), and will study the tumor and whole body response to the vaccine. If the tumor is palpable (able to fee by touch), the vaccine will be administered by a Surgeon/oncologist in the outpatient floor - both experienced and trained. If not palpable, the procedure will be done via guided Ultrasound by our Breast Radiologist -- both experienced and trained. Women with triple-negative (TNBC) and HER2+ types of breast cancer will be eligible for enrollment. Up to 18 subjects may be enrolled at Rush. Successive groups of 3 subjects per breast cancer type will be given increasing doses of vaccine. There are 3 potential dosing groups (half-dose, full dose, and high dose). Blood, stool (optional), and tumor tissue samples will be collected and tested. The active participation period is from one week prior to starting chemotherapy through three months post surgery.

Study Overview

Status

Withdrawn

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Phase

  • 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

    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60612
        • Rush 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

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • ECOG 0-2
  • Patients must be planning to receive standard of car e neoadjuvant chemotherapy as defined by the most recent version of NCCN guidelines (www.nccn.org)
  • Patients must have histologically or cytologically confirmed invasive breast cancer that is either triple-negative or HER2+ (regardless of hormone receptor status)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with any uncontrolled intercurrent illness.
  • Patients who have any underlying medical condition for which, in the investigator's opinion, participation would not be in the best interest of the participant
  • History of egg allergy
  • Patients currently on anticoagulant therapy, corticosteroids, or immunosuppressive agents
  • History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to the seasonal flu vaccine.
  • History of Guillain-Barré syndrome

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
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intratumoral influenza vaccine
Successive cohorts of participants (3 participants per tumor type per cohort) will each be started on a fixed dose of the influenza vaccine. For the first cohort, patients will receive Fluzone Quadrivalent - (Sanofi Pasteur) - 60mcg/0.5mL (standard dose IT flu shot, or dose level 0) intratumorally on day -6 +/- 1 day and day 0 or 1. For the second cohort, patients will receive Fluzone High-Dose Quadrivalent - (Sanofi Pasteur) - 240mcg/0.7mL (high dose IT flu shot, or dose level 1) intratumorally on day -6 +/- 1 day and day 0 or 1. has context menu

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Dose- limiting toxicity (DLT)
Time Frame: 3 months post surgery
The primary objective of this trial is to assess the safety of intratumoral (IT) influenza vaccine administration in patients with breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy, by evaluating the percentage of patients experiencing dose- limiting toxicity (DLT).
3 months post surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ruta Rao, MD, Rush University Medical Center

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)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 5, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 19, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

January 29, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 11, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 9, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

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

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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