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

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

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

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

10

Phase

  • 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 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

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
Intervention / Treatment
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

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

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

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Investigators

  • 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)

September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 9, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 9, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 15, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 26, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 25, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID 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.

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