New study probes why brain tumors resist treatment

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 with no impairment in decision making capacity * Patients with HER2 overexpressed/amplified/mutant metastatic breast/lung/esophagogastric/colorectal cancer (IHC, fluorescent in situ hybridation or sequencing-confirmed primary, brain, or other metastatic site) and one or more brain tumor(s) planned for neurosurgical resection. Other untreated brain metastases, and prior radiation (whole brain radiation therapy and/or stereotactic radiosurgery) to the index site are allowed * Patients with concomitant leptomeningeal disease are eligible provided they have parenchymal brain metastases requiring resection. * Life expectancy of \>12 weeks. * ECOG Performance Status (PS) of 0 to 2 * Prior treatments: * Cohort A: Clinical and or radiological CNS parenchymal progression on tucatinib as most recent line of treatment (tucatinib-resistant) in patients with HER2 overexpressed/amplified breast cancer * Clinical and or radiological CNS parenchymal progression with no prior tucatinib (tucatinib naïve) in patients with HER2 overexpressed/amplified breast cancer * Clinical and or radiological CNS parenchymal progression in patients with HER2+/mutant lung/esophagogastric/colorectal cancer and HER2 mutant breast cancer ALL PATIENTS: * Prior conventional dose lapatinib and neratinib are allowed in any cohort if \> 6 months prior * No limit on prior lines of systemic therapy * Adequate bone marrow, liver, renal function, and coagulation parameters (obtained ≤ 7 days prior to the first day of study treatment: 1. Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥1.0 × 103μL, Platelet count ≥75 × 103 /μL, Hemoglobin ≥ 8.0 g/dL 2. Total bilirubin ≤1.5 × upper limit of normal (ULN). Subjects with known history of Gilbert's Syndrome and normal direct bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) are eligible: AST and ALT ≤2.5 × ULN (≤5 × ULN if liver metastases are present) 3. Calculated creatinine clearance ≥50 mL/min using the CKD-EPI (2021) (in Cohort A, in patients with elevated serum creatinine, eGFR can be calculated using cystatin C to confirm eligibility) 4. International normalized ratio (INR) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) ≤1.5 × ULN unless on medication known to alter INR and/or aPTT * Women of childbearing potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test performed within 7 days prior to enrollment and must agree to use adequate contraception prior to enrollment and for the duration of study participation * Patients must be able to swallow and retain oral medication Exclusion Criteria: * Contraindications or history of allergic reaction to tucatinib or any of its excipients * Significant medical co-morbidities as per investigator evaluation * Inability to comply with protocol and /or not willing or not available for follow-up assessments or any condition which in the investigator's opinion makes the patient unsuitable for the study participation * Have used a strong or moderate CYP2C8 inhibitor within 5 half-lives of the inhibitor or have used a strong or moderate CYP2C8 or CYP3A4 inducer within 2 weeks prior to first dose of study treatment (Appendix E) * Receiving concomitant CYP3A or P-gp substrates where minimal concentration changes may lead to serious or life-threatening toxicities * Concurrent pregnancy