Promising pill may stall brain tumors in HER2+ breast cancer
NCT ID NCT05041842
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This phase 2 trial is testing whether adding the drug tucatinib to standard treatments (pertuzumab and trastuzumab) can help people with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer whose cancer has progressed in the brain after local therapy. About 53 participants will receive tucatinib pills twice daily along with their regular infusions. The main goal is to see how many are alive without further cancer growth six months later.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- tucatinib (a targeted cancer drug taken as a pill)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could offer a new treatment option for people with HER2+ breast cancer that has spread to the brain, potentially delaying further progression.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-phase study (53 participants) without a comparison group, so results may not be definitive. Side effects of tucatinib can include diarrhea, nausea, and liver problems.
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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53 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Dec 2021
- Expected to finish
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Apr 2026
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: 1. Male or female, Age ≥18; 2. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG PS) 0-1; 3. Histologically confirmed HER2 positive breast cancer, with HER2 positive defined by in situ hybridization (ISH), immunohistochemistry (IHC), or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) methodology; 4. Documented isolated brain progression (defined as new or progressive brain metastases with stable or responding systemic disease) under pertuzumab and trastuzumab treatment (with or without taxane) for metastatic disease (There is no limit to the number and size of brain metastasis); 5. Complete local treatment of brain progression (Surgery and/or radiation therapy) should have been completed no more than 12 weeks before inclusion and there is no clinical indication for immediate re-treatment with local therapy in the opinion of the investigator; 6. Able to undergo MRI scanning of the brain; 7. Normal renal function: creatinine \<1.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN); 8. Adequate liver function: total bilirubin ≤1.5 ULN (unless documented Gilbert's syndrome); aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤2.5 ULN (≤5 ULN in the presence of liver metastases); 9. Normal hematological function: Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥1.5 x 10⁹/L; platelets count ≥100 x 10⁹/L; and hemoglobin ≥9.0 g/dL; 10. Adequate cardiac functions, including: * 12 Lead electrocardiograms (ECG) with normal tracing or non-clinically significant changes that do not require medical intervention * QT/Corrected QT interval (QTcF) ≤470 msec for woman and ≤450 msec for men (mean of replicate values, correction per institutional standard) on the ECG at the screening visit and a normal kalemia * Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥50% * No history of Torsades de Pointes or other symptomatic QTc abnormality 11. Resolution of all acute toxic effects of prior anti-cancer therapy or surgical procedures to NCI CTCAE version 5.0 Grade 1 or to baseline (except alopecia or others toxicities not considered a safety risk for the patient at investigator's discretion); 12. Stable dose of steroids at the time of enrolment; 13. Women of childbearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test (blood or urine test) within 14 days prior to inclusion; 14. Woman of childbearing potential and male patients must agree to use adequate contraception for the duration of trial participation and up to 7 months after completing treatment/therapy (association of trastuzumab, pertuzumab +/- tucatinib). Hormonal contraceptives such as birth control pills, patches, implants, or injections are not allowed in patients who are hormone receptor positive; 15. Patient must have signed a written informed consent form prior to any trial specific procedures. When the patient is physically unable to give their written consent, a trusted person of their choice, independent from the investigator or the sponsor, can confirm in writing the patient's consent; 16. Patients affiliated to the social security system (or equivalent); 17. Patient must be willing and able to comply with the protocol for the duration of the trial including scheduled visits, treatment plan, laboratory tests, and examinations including follow-up. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Radiologic extra-cranial progression under pertuzumab and trastuzumab treatment, at the time of enrolment. The systemic disease must be stable or responding at the time of enrolment; 2. Proven leptomeningeal disease; 3. Any progressive brain lesion between the brain local treatment completion and the enrolment; 4. Poorly controlled seizures (more than 1/week); 5. Clinically significant cardiopulmonary disease; 6. Used of a strong cytochrome P450 (CYP)2C8 inhibitor within 5 half-lives of the inhibitor, or use of a strong CYP3A4 or CYP2C8 inducer within 5 days prior to first dose of study treatment. Use of sensitive CYP3A substrates should be avoided one week before enrollment and during study treatment 7. Previous treatment with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor; 8. Carriers of Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C or have other known chronic liver disease; 9. Positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); 10. Known prior severe hypersensitivity to tucatinib or compounds chemically or/and biologically similar or any component in its formulation; 11. History of any other cancer (except non-melanoma skin cancer or carcinoma in-situ of the cervix) unless the patient has been in remission and off all other cancer therapy for at least 3 years; 12. Pregnant women or women who are breast-feeding; 13. Inability to swallow tablets or significant gastrointestinal disease which would preclude the adequate oral absorption of medications; 14. Person deprived of their liberty or under protective custody or guardianship or unable to give informed consent; 15. Participation in another therapeutic trial within the 30 days prior to tucatinib treatment initiation.
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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
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CARIO - Centre Armoricain Radiothérapie Imagerie Médicale et Oncologi
Plérin, France
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Centre Antoine Lacassagne
Nice, France
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Centre Francois Baclesse
Caen, France
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Centre Georges François Leclerc
Dijon, France
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Centre Henri Becquerel
Rouen, France
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Centre Hospitalier Annecy Genevois
Pringy, France
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Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Tours
Tours, France
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Centre Leon Berard
Lyon, France
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Clinique Victor Hugo
Le Mans, 72000, France
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Gustave Roussy
Villejuif, France
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Hôpital privé Jean Mermoz
Lyon, France
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Institut Bergonié
Bordeaux, France
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Institut Claudius Regaud
Toulouse, France
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Institut Jean Godinot
Reims, France
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Institut de Cancérologie de l'Ouest - Site Paul Papin
Angers, France
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Institut du cancer de Montpellier
Montpellier, 34090, France