Can a skin cancer drug reboot chemo for tough breast tumors?
NCT ID NCT04664829
First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 26, 2026
Summary
This early-phase trial tested whether the drug bexarotene (Targretin) could make chemotherapy-resistant triple-negative breast cancer cells sensitive to chemo again. Twelve women with metastatic, taxane-resistant breast cancer took bexarotene pills plus capecitabine (Xeloda) chemotherapy. The study looked at changes in tumor genes and proteins, and monitored side effects.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- bexarotene (Targretin) and capecitabine (Xeloda)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a way to make chemotherapy effective again for some people with hard-to-treat breast cancer.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very early, small Phase 1 trial with only 12 people. It is designed mainly to check safety and biological changes, not to prove the treatment works.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
-
Phase 1
The first testing in people. Mainly checks safety and dose, usually in a small group.
- Participants
-
12 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
-
Oct 2020
- Finished
-
Aug 2025
- Lead sponsor
-
Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
-
21 years and older
- Sex
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Female participants only
- Healthy volunteers
-
Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients with histologically or cytologically proven metastatic TNBC * Patients whose TNBC has progressed after prior taxane therapy in the (neo)adjuvant or metastatic setting, and have not received Capecitabine or 5-fluorouracil * Females aged 21 years and older * ECOG performance status 0 or 1 * Life expectancy greater than three months * Patients have normal organ and marrow function * Site(s) of disease amenable to serial bedside biopsies before, during and after study treatment Exclusion Criteria: * Previous palliative radiotherapy to potentially biopsy-able lesion * Active symptomatic central nervous system (CNS) metastases * Spinal cord compression not definitively treated with surgery and/or radiation * Uncontrolled pleural effusion, pericardial effusion, ascites requiring recurrent drainage procedures
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
-
National Cancer Center Singapore
Singapore, 168583, Singapore
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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