Can a blood test reveal when breast cancer treatment stops working?
NCT ID NCT04660435
First seen Sep 14, 2026 · Last updated Sep 15, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
Researchers are studying whether blood and tissue samples can show when metastatic breast cancer stops responding to standard first-line treatment with an aromatase inhibitor and a CDK4/6 inhibitor. The study enrolls women with ER-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who have not yet received systemic therapy for advanced disease. Participants give blood and tissue samples over time, which researchers analyze for markers like thymidine kinase activity, gene expression patterns, and circulating tumor DNA. The goal is to see if these markers can predict how long treatment keeps cancer from growing.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- What this could lead to
- If the markers work, doctors could one day use a simple blood test to spot treatment resistance early and switch therapies sooner.
- What could go wrong
- This is an observational study, so it will not test a new treatment. The markers may not reliably predict resistance, and the findings may not apply to all patients.
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.
- Participants
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About 150 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Dec 2020
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2030
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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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.
Who is studied
Pre- and post-menopausal patients with luminal (ER-positive and HER2-negative) MBC who have not received prior systemic therapy for MBC, who are candidate to first-line treatment with an aromatase inhibitor and a CDK4/6i as per standard clinical practice. Patients must have evaluable disease according to RECIST 1.1 (either measurable or non-measurable). Patients with bone-only disease will be allowed in a specific sub-cohort, which will comprise 10% of the total sample size.
- Ages
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Children (under 18), adults (18 to 64) and older adults (65 and over)
- Sex
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Female participants only
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Women aged 18 years or older, with a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer 2. ER-positive and HER2-negative disease as assessed locally either on primary tumor tissue or on a biopsy of a metastasis 3. The patient has not received any prior systemic therapy for metastatic breast cancer (may have received prior hormonal therapy or chemotherapy in the neo/adjuvant setting) 4. The patient is candidate to receive first-line therapy with an aromatase inhibitor (AI) and a CDK4/6 inhibitor per local clinical practice 5. The patient must have evaluable disease according to RECIST 1.1 (either measurable or non-measurable). Note: Patients with bone-only disease will be allowed in a specific sub-cohort, which will comprise 10% of the total sample size. 6. Hystologic material from one formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor block from a diagnostic core or excisional biopsy of a metastatic lesion, taken before study entry must be provided (patients with bone-only disease will be accepted into the trial without a biopsy of the metastatic site). Hystologic material from an additional biopsy (core or excisional) taken at time of disease progression on the study treatment must also be provided, if clinically feasible. When available, hystologic material from an FFPE tumor block from the primary breast cancer must also be submitted. 7. The patient agrees to provide blood samples. at the trial specified time points Exclusion Criteria: 1. Patients with metastatic disease isolated to the central nervous system (CNS) without metastatic involvement of any other site, unless surgical excision of CNS metastasis has been performed and the tumor tissue is available for the study. 2. Previous or current non-breast malignancies within the last 5 years, with the exception of in situ carcinoma of the cervix and/or adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin
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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.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Hospital Santo Stefano
RECRUITINGPrato, Tuscany, 59100, Italy
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