Could some breast cancer patients skip extra treatment? new trial investigates
NCT ID NCT07407920
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This phase II trial is testing whether patients with early HER2-positive or triple-negative breast cancer who had a complete response to pre-surgery treatment and have no cancer DNA in their blood can safely receive less therapy after surgery. The goal is to reduce side effects while keeping the cancer from coming back. The study involves 120 participants and uses drugs like pembrolizumab, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- pembrolizumab, trastuzumab, pertuzumab, endocrine therapy
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could show that some patients with early breast cancer can safely receive less treatment after surgery, reducing side effects while maintaining good outcomes.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-phase trial (120 participants) and may not prove that reduced therapy is as effective as standard care. There is a risk that cancer could return without full treatment.
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 120 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Oct 2025
- Expected to finish
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Sep 2027
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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Anyone
- 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: * EARLY HER2 POSITIVE (+) BREAST CANCER COHORT: Female or male with a diagnosis of biopsy proven invasive breast cancer HER2+, hormone (estrogen and progesterone)-receptor positive or negative. The HER2 status (following American Society of Clinical Oncology \[ASCO\]/College of American Pathologists \[CAP\] guidelines) and hormone-receptor status will be determined according to institutional (local) guidelines * EARLY TNBC COHORT: Female or male with a diagnosis of biopsy proven invasive TNBC (estrogen and progesterone receptor \< 10%). The HER2 status (following ASCO/CAP guidelines) and hormone-receptor status will be determined according to institutional (local) guidelines * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: Invasive breast cancer of any tumor histologic grade and/or nuclear grade, and any tumor histological subtype including but not limited to infiltrating ductal carcinoma, infiltrating lobular carcinoma, mucinous carcinoma, papillary carcinoma, tubular carcinoma, metaplastic carcinoma, and mixed histology * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: Clinical tumor stage (per American Joint Committee on Cancer \[AJCC\] 8th edition): T1-4, N0-2a, M0. Patients who have a diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer are eligible. Patients should not have clinical evidence of locoregional or distant metastatic breast cancer * EARLY HER2+ BREAST CANCER COHORT: Have completed NST with a trastuzumab plus pertuzumab and chemotherapy-based regimen (for example, docetaxel plus minus carboplatin plus trastuzumab plus pertuzumab known as the docetaxel/pertuzumab/trastuzumab \[THP\]/carboplatin/paclitaxel/pertuzumab/trastuzumab \[TCHP\] regimens) followed by definitive breast surgery where the surgical pathology reports a pCR (ypT0-Tis, ypN0) and are willing to discontinue adjuvant trastuzumab plus pertuzumab * EARLY TNBC COHORT: Have completed NST with a pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy-based regimen (for example, the KEYNOTE-522 regimen which is paclitaxel plus carboplatin plus pembrolizumab followed by doxorubicin plus cyclophosphamide plus pembrolizumab) followed by definitive breast surgery where the surgical pathology reports a pCR (ypT0-Tis, ypN0) and are willing to discontinue adjuvant pembrolizumab * The surgical pathology report needs to show a pCR (ypT0-Tis, ypN0) for a patient to be able to participate in this study and all enrolled patients should be willing to discontinue standard adjuvant systemic therapy * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: Adequate archival tumor tissue from the core diagnostic biopsy (per Personalis) * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: Age ≥ 18 years * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ≤ 2 (Karnofsky ≥ 60%) * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,000/mcL * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dL * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: Platelets ≥ 100,000/mcL * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: Total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 institutional upper limit of normal (ULN); patients with Gilbert's syndrome (if direct bilirubin \<1.5 x institutional ULN) * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)(serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\])/ alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase \[SGPT\]) ≤ 3 × institutional ULN * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: Creatinine ≤ 1.5 mg/dL * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: For patients with evidence of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, the HBV viral load must be undetectable on suppressive therapy, if indicated * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: Patients with a history of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection must have been treated and cured. For patients with HCV infection who are currently on treatment, they are eligible if they have an undetectable HCV viral load * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients on effective anti-retroviral therapy with undetectable viral load within 6 months are eligible * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: Pre- and postmenopausal women are eligible * FOR BOTH HER2+ AND TNBC COHORTS: Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with tumor stage of cN2b or cN3 are not eligible * History of other malignancies besides breast cancer within the past 5 years, except cervical cancer in situ, melanoma in situ, basal cell carcinoma of the skin, or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin * Patients who are receiving any other anti-cancer investigational agents * Patients with known cancer metastases from any site * Patients with uncontrolled intercurrent illness including but not limited to active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, symptomatic cardiac arrythmias * Patients with psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements * Blood transfusion within 2 weeks before collection of blood for ctDNA testing * Patients who have received 4 or more cycles of SOC adjuvant trastuzumab/pertuzumab (HER2+) or 4 or more cycles of SOC adjuvant pembrolizumab (TNBC) * Pregnant women are not eligible to participate in this study
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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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M D Anderson Cancer Center
RECRUITINGHouston, Texas, 77030, United States
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