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Paclitaxel & Cyclophosphamide With or Without Trastuzumab Before Surgery in Treating Previously Untreated Breast Cancer

A Phase II Study of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy With and Without Trastuzumab in Patients With Breast Cancer

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT01750073
Enrollment
92
Registered
2012-12-17
Start date
2012-12-07
Completion date
2025-11-24
Last updated
2026-06-26

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Estrogen Receptor Negative, Estrogen Receptor Positive, HER2/Neu Negative, HER2/Neu Positive, Invasive Breast Carcinoma, Progesterone Receptor Negative, Progesterone Receptor Positive, Stage IA Breast Cancer, Stage IIA Breast Cancer, Stage IIB Breast Cancer, Stage II Breast Cancer, Stage IIIA Breast Cancer, Stage IIIB Breast Cancer, Stage III Breast Cancer, Stage IIIC Breast Cancer, Triple-Negative Breast Carcinoma

Brief summary

This phase II trial studies the side effects and how well giving paclitaxel and cyclophosphamide with or without trastuzumab before surgery works in treating patients with previously untreated breast cancer. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as paclitaxel and cyclophosphamide, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Monoclonal antibodies, such as trastuzumab, may block tumor growth in different ways by targeting certain cells. Giving combination chemotherapy with or without trastuzumab before surgery may make the tumor smaller and reduce the amount of normal tissue that needs to be removed.

Detailed description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To evaluate the toxicities and tolerability of a neoadjuvant dose-dense regimen cyclophosphamide and paclitaxel with or without trastuzumab/radiation therapy (as clinically indicated) in patients with newly diagnosed stage T1cN0 and II-III breast cancer; followed by maintenance trastuzumab in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive OR adriamycin (doxorubicin hydrochloride) followed by radiation therapy (RT) in stage II-III triple negative HER2 (-), estrogen receptor (ER) (-), progesterone receptor (PR) (-) stage T1cN0 and II-III breast cancer patients. II. To determine the pathological complete response rate (pCR) of this treatment regimen. III. To identify possible gene expression profile signatures from whole genome array analysis that correlate with clinical response/resistance to chemotherapy as measured by pathologic complete response rate (pCR). OUTLINE: NEOADJUVANT THERAPY: Patients receive paclitaxel intravenously (IV) over 3 hours and cyclophosphamide IV over 1 hour on day 1. Patients with HER2-positive cancer also receive trastuzumab IV over 30 minutes on day 1. Treatment repeats every 14 days for up to 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients without metastasis undergo mastectomy or breast conserving surgery 4-8 weeks later. POST-SURGERY/SYSTEMIC THERAPY: HER2-POSITIVE PATIENTS: Patients receive standard radiation therapy. Patients also receive trastuzumab IV over 30 minutes on day 1. Treatment repeats every 21 days for up to 13 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. ER/PR POSITIVE PATIENTS: Patients receive standard adjuvant hormonal or endocrine therapy. STAGE T1cN0 TRIPLE NEGATIVE PATIENTS: Patients receive standard radiation therapy. STAGE II-III TRIPLE NEGATIVE PATIENTS: Patients receive doxorubicin hydrochloride IV over 15 minutes on day 1. Treatment repeats every 14 days for up to 4 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients also receive standard radiation therapy. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up every 3 months for 2 years, and then annually thereafter for 5 years.

Interventions

DRUGCyclophosphamide

Given IV

DRUGDoxorubicin Hydrochloride

Given IV

OTHERLaboratory Biomarker Analysis

Correlative studies

DRUGPaclitaxel

Given IV

RADIATIONRadiation Therapy

Undergo RT

PROCEDURETherapeutic Conventional Surgery

Undergo mastectomy or breast conserving surgery

BIOLOGICALTrastuzumab

Given IV

Sponsors

University of Nebraska
Lead SponsorOTHER
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
CollaboratorNIH

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
19 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Women with histologically proven invasive breast cancer without distant metastases; a clinical tumor classification of tumor size must be at least 1 cm with or without clinical pathologic evidence of positive nodes * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1 * At least one lesion that can be accurately measured in two dimensions utilizing mammogram, ultrasound, or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images to define specific size and validate complete clinical and pathologic response * Patients who received radiation therapy \> 5 years ago for malignancies other than breast cancer and whose radiation therapy field is not overlapping with the 20% isodose line of current radiation field are eligible, provided that radiation therapy was completed \> 5 years ago and that there is no evidence of the second malignancy at the time of study entry * Absolute neutrophil count greater than or equal to 1,500/mcl * Platelet count equal to or greater than 150,000/mcl * Alkaline phosphatase equal or less than 1.5 times the upper limit of normal (ULN) * Total bilirubin equal to or less than 1.5 times the ULN * Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) no greater than 1.5 times the ULN * Creatinine less than 1.5 times the ULN * All included patients must have normal cardiac function as defined by an ejection fraction of \>= 50% and no decrease in wall motion by echocardiogram * The patient must be aware of the neoplastic nature of his/her disease and willingly provide written, informed consent after being informed of the procedure to be followed, the experimental nature of the therapy, alternatives, potential benefits, side-effects, risks, and discomforts * Women of reproductive potential must be non-pregnant and non-nursing and must agree to employ an effective barrier method of birth control throughout the study and for up to 6 months following treatment * Women of child-bearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test within 7 days of initiating study; (no childbearing potential is defined as age 55 years or older and no menses for two years or any age with surgical removal of the uterus and/or both ovaries)

Exclusion criteria

* Any patient with inflammatory breast cancer or stage IV or confirmed metastatic disease * Patients who have had any prior chemotherapy, or endocrine therapy for the treatment of breast cancer or any other cancer * Patients who cannot undergo surgery * Patients with a known or documented anaphylactic reaction or allergy to any of chemotherapy agents used in this protocol, or to antiemetics appropriate for administration in conjunction with protocol-directed therapy * Uncontrolled inter-current illness including, but not limited to ongoing or active infection requiring intravenous antibiotics, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, or serious, uncontrolled cardiac arrhythmia, that might jeopardize the ability of the patient to receive the therapy program outlined in this protocol with reasonable safety * Patients with preexisting grade II peripheral neuropathy * Pregnant and nursing women are excluded from this study * Patients with prior malignancy will be excluded except for adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer, adequately treated noninvasive carcinomas * Inability to cooperate with treatment protocol * Patients with known human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, infectious hepatitis, type A, B or C, active hepatitis, or hepatic insufficiency * Patients may not be receiving or have received any other investigational agents during/or within 1 month prior * Any serious medical condition, laboratory abnormality, or psychiatric illness that would prevent the subject from signing the informed consent form * Myocardial infarction within 6 months prior to enrollment or has New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III or IV heart failure uncontrolled angina, severe uncontrolled ventricular arrhythmias, or electrocardiographic evidence of acute ischemia or active conduction system abnormalities; prior to study entry, any electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormality at screening has to be documented by the investigator as not medically relevant

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Overall Incidence of Toxicities, Graded According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) Version 4.0Up to 30 days after completion of study treatment, maximum of 114 daysNumber of participants in each subset (Her2 positive and Her2 negative) who experience at least one adverse event \[overall incidence of toxicities, graded according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 4.0\].
Overall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0Up to 30 days after completion of study treatment, maximum of 114 daysResults reported as total events per grade for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)negative and HER2 positive (Overall severity of toxicities, graded according to the NCI CTCAE version 4.0).
Number of Participants in the Subgroups Who Had a Pathologic Complete Response (pCR)Up to 12 weeks (after the first 6 courses of treatment), maximum of 168 daysThe number of participants in the subgroups who had a pathologic complete response (pCR) determined from the surgical specimen and defined as the absence of invasive carcinoma in both the breast and axilla at microscopic examination of the resection specimen, regardless of the presence of carcinoma in situ.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Clinical Complete Responseup to 2 yearsThe absence of all detectable cancer after treatment is complete
Failure- Free Survival (FFS)The time from the date of administration of study drug to the date of first appearance of tumor lesions by imaging, or death, assessed up to 2 yearsThe analysis will be based on Kaplan- Meier estimates. FFS will be summarized overall and for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) + and HER- subsets
Identification of Gene Expression Profile Signatures That Correlate With Clinical Response as Measured by pCRUp to 2 yearsThe number of the identified mutated genes, the frequency of each gene being validated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)/Sanger sequencing method, and the functions of these identified genes will be descriptively summarized.
Overall Survival (OS)The time from the date of the date of administration of study drug to the date of death from any cause, assessed up to 2 yearsThe analysis will be based on Kaplan-Meier estimates. OS will be summarized overall and for HER+ and HER- subsets.

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORAmulya C Yellala, MD

University of Nebraska

Participant flow

Pre-assignment details

99 subjects were enrolled but 7 were screen fails (after signing consent) so only 92 started.

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Treatment (Chemotherapy, Surgery, Post-operative Therapy)
See Detailed Description Cyclophosphamide: Given IV Doxorubicin Hydrochloride: Given IV Laboratory Biomarker Analysis: Correlative studies Paclitaxel: Given IV Radiation Therapy: Undergo RT Therapeutic Conventional Surgery: Undergo mastectomy or breast conserving surgery Trastuzumab: Given IV
92
Total92

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicTreatment (Chemotherapy, Surgery, Post-operative Therapy)
Age, Continuous57.65 Years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 10.19
ER Status
Negative
35 Participants
ER Status
Positive
57 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
3 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Not Hispanic or Latino
89 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
Her-2 NEU Status (human epidermal growth factor receptor)
Negative
73 Participants
Her-2 NEU Status (human epidermal growth factor receptor)
Positive
19 Participants
PR Status (progesterone receptors)
Negative
49 Participants
PR Status (progesterone receptors)
Positive
43 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
American Indian or Alaska Native
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Asian
1 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Black or African American
11 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
More than one race
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
White
80 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
92 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
0 Participants
Stage of Cancer
Stage I
22 Participants
Stage of Cancer
Stage II
65 Participants
Stage of Cancer
Stage IIIA
5 Participants
Treatment
paclitaxel & cyclophosphamide (PC)
56 Participants
Treatment
paclitaxel & cyclophosphamide (PC) + Adriamycin
17 Participants
Treatment
paclitaxel, cyclophosphamide & trastuzumab (PCH)
19 Participants
Triple Negative
No
63 Participants
Triple Negative
Yes
29 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
2 / 92
other
Total, other adverse events
92 / 92
serious
Total, serious adverse events
16 / 92

Outcome results

Primary

Number of Participants in the Subgroups Who Had a Pathologic Complete Response (pCR)

The number of participants in the subgroups who had a pathologic complete response (pCR) determined from the surgical specimen and defined as the absence of invasive carcinoma in both the breast and axilla at microscopic examination of the resection specimen, regardless of the presence of carcinoma in situ.

Time frame: Up to 12 weeks (after the first 6 courses of treatment), maximum of 168 days

Population: Participants who completed 6 courses of treatment (87). 16 subjects were not evaluated. Total of 71 participants were evaluated.

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Her-2 NegativeNumber of Participants in the Subgroups Who Had a Pathologic Complete Response (pCR)13 participants
Her-2 PositiveNumber of Participants in the Subgroups Who Had a Pathologic Complete Response (pCR)2 participants
Primary

Overall Incidence of Toxicities, Graded According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) Version 4.0

Number of participants in each subset (Her2 positive and Her2 negative) who experience at least one adverse event \[overall incidence of toxicities, graded according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 4.0\].

Time frame: Up to 30 days after completion of study treatment, maximum of 114 days

Population: All subjects who received at least one cycle of treatment and experienced an adverse event.

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Her-2 NegativeOverall Incidence of Toxicities, Graded According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) Version 4.073 Participants
Her-2 PositiveOverall Incidence of Toxicities, Graded According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) Version 4.019 Participants
Primary

Overall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0

Results reported as total events per grade for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)negative and HER2 positive (Overall severity of toxicities, graded according to the NCI CTCAE version 4.0).

Time frame: Up to 30 days after completion of study treatment, maximum of 114 days

Population: Participant events were analyzed for each group-Her-2 Negative and Her-2 Positive

ArmMeasureGroupValue (NUMBER)
Her-2 NegativeOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0Non-SAE grade 411 Events
Her-2 NegativeOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0SAE grade 11 Events
Her-2 NegativeOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0SAE grade 210 Events
Her-2 NegativeOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0SAE grade 322 Events
Her-2 NegativeOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0SAE grade 42 Events
Her-2 NegativeOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0SAE grade 51 Events
Her-2 NegativeOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0Non-SAE grade 11286 Events
Her-2 NegativeOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0Non-SAE grade 393 Events
Her-2 NegativeOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0Non-SAE grade 2390 Events
Her-2 PositiveOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0Non-SAE grade 44 Events
Her-2 PositiveOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0SAE grade 51 Events
Her-2 PositiveOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0SAE grade 19 Events
Her-2 PositiveOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0Non-SAE grade 323 Events
Her-2 PositiveOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0SAE grade 24 Events
Her-2 PositiveOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0Non-SAE grade 1302 Events
Her-2 PositiveOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0SAE grade 38 Events
Her-2 PositiveOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0Non-SAE grade 2143 Events
Her-2 PositiveOverall Severity of Toxicities, Graded According to the NCI CTCAE Version 4.0SAE grade 42 Events
Secondary

Clinical Complete Response

The absence of all detectable cancer after treatment is complete.

Time frame: Up to 2 years

Secondary

Failure-free Survival (FFS)

The analysis will be based on Kaplan-Meier estimates. FFS will be summarized overall and for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)+ and HER- subsets.

Time frame: The time from the date of administration of study drug to the date of first appearance of tumor lesions by imaging, or death, assessed up to 2 years

Secondary

Identification of Gene Expression Profile Signatures That Correlate With Clinical Response as Measured by pCR

The number of the identified mutated genes, the frequency of each gene being validated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)/Sanger sequencing method, and the functions of these identified genes will be descriptively summarized.

Time frame: Up to 2 years

Secondary

Overall Survival (OAS)

The analysis will be based on Kaplan-Meier estimates. OAS will be summarized overall and for HER+ and HER- subsets.

Time frame: The time from the date of the date of administration of study drug to the date of death from any cause, assessed up to 2 years

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jun 27, 2026