Could a heart drug help immunotherapy fight breast cancer again?
NCT ID NCT05741164
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This phase 2 trial tests whether adding the beta-blocker propranolol to the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab can help shrink tumors in people with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer that has stopped responding to checkpoint inhibitors. About 37 adults with advanced, unresectable cancer will receive both drugs and be monitored for tumor response. The goal is to see if propranolol can re-sensitize the immune system to fight the cancer.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Propranolol (a beta-blocker) and pembrolizumab (an immunotherapy drug)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a new treatment option for people with triple-negative breast cancer that no longer responds to standard immunotherapy.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-phase trial with only 37 participants. It is testing a combination in a hard-to-treat cancer, so success is uncertain and benefits 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.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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About 37 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Sep 2024
- Expected to finish
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Jun 2029
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.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- 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: * Age \>= 18 years of age * Have pathologically confirmed diagnosis of unresectable or metastatic triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) with no curative treatment options * No chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or major surgery within 4 weeks of protocol treatment * Checkpoint inhibitor refractory patients (i.e., no longer responding to chemotherapy and checkpoint inhibitor) who have disease progression on prior line of chemotherapy and pembrolizumab, and, who in the opinion of the physician, can continue checkpoint inhibitor * Patients must be agreeable to pre- and 6-week post treatment biopsy in part 1 of the study * The pre-treatment biopsy for this study must be taken at least 4 weeks after all previous chemotherapy (pembrolizumab is allowed during this period) * Participants of child-bearing potential must agree to use adequate contraceptive methods (e.g. hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry. Should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while she or her partner is participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately * Have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status of =\< 1 * Platelets \>= 100,000/uL * Hemoglobin \>= 9.0 g/dL * Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) \>= 1500/uL * Total bilirubin =\< institutional upper limit of normal (ULN) * Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\]) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase \[SGPT\]) =\< 2.5 X institutional ULN * Creatinine clearance \>= 50 mL/min per Cockcroft-Gault equation * HbA1C \<=8.5 * Have measurable disease per RECIST 1.1 criteria present * Ability to swallow and retain oral medication * Participant must understand the investigational nature of this study and sign an Independent Ethics Committee/Institutional Review Board approved written informed consent form prior to receiving any study related procedure Exclusion Criteria: * Patients currently treated with systemic immunosuppressive agents, including steroids, are ineligible until 3 weeks after removal from immunosuppressive treatment * Patients with active autoimmune disease, requiring ongoing immunosuppressive therapy or history of transplantation * Patients with rapidly progressive disease/ symptomatic disease * Patients with primary resistance (i.e., did not respond to initial treatment with chemotherapy plus checkpoint inhibitor) with progressive disease at 12 weeks after starting chemotherapy and pembrolizumab * Patients who are pregnant or nursing. Women of childbearing potential (WOCBP) will have to undergo a urine pregnancy test as part of screening * Participants with symptomatic known brain metastases \< 4 weeks from radiation treatment should be excluded from this clinical trial because of their poor prognosis and because they often develop progressive neurologic dysfunction that would confound the evaluation of neurologic and other adverse events * History of malignancy other than breast cancer within 5 years prior to screening, with the exception of those with a negligible risk of metastases or death * Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements * Unwilling or unable to follow protocol requirements * Contraindications to the use of beta-blockers, like: uncontrolled depression, unstable angina pectoris, uncontrolled heart failure (grade III or IV), hypotension (systolic blood pressure \< 100 mmHg), severe asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), uncontrolled type I or type II diabetes mellitus (hemoglobin A1C \[HbA1C\] \> 8.5 or fasting plasma glucose \> 160 mg/dl at screening), symptomatic peripheral arterial disease or Raynaud's syndrome, untreated pheochromocytoma, current use of beta-blockers or non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers * Any additional condition which in the investigator's opinion deems the participant an unsuitable candidate to receive the study drugs
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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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Emory University Hospital
RECRUITINGAtlanta, Georgia, 30322, United States
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Roswell Park Cancer Institute
WITHDRAWNBuffalo, New York, 14263, United States
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