RO4929097 and Letrozole in Treating Post-Menopausal Women With Hormone Receptor-Positive Stage II or Stage III Breast Cancer
Estrogen Receptor-positive Breast Cancer, HER2-negative Breast Cancer, Progesterone Receptor-positive Breast Cancer

About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Estrogen Receptor-positive Breast Cancer
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
Pathologically confirmed invasive breast cancer
Stage II or III disease (T2-T3, N0-2)
- No N3, T4 disease
Estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) and/or progesterone receptor-positive (PR+)
- H score ≥ 10 or positivity ≥ 10%
- HER2 negative as determined by IHC (1 or 2+) or FISH (< 2.0+)
- Bilateral disease allowed as long as all tumors are ER+ and ≥ 1 is T2-T3
Patient must have disease that is palpable on physical exam and able to be imaged via breast ultrasound
- Defined as ≥ 1 T2 tumor > 2 cm
- Multifocal disease allowed provided that ≥ 1 of the tumors is > 2 cm
- No metastatic disease by CT scans of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis, a PET/CT bone scan, or nuclear medicine bone scan
- No inflammatory breast cancer or presence of breast tumor cells in the dermal lymphatics of the breast
Post-menopausal meeting 1 of the following criteria:
- Bilateral oophorectomy
- Age ≥ 50 years and amenorrheic for > 12 months in the absence of chemotherapy, tamoxifen, toremifene, or ovarian suppression (spontaneous amenorrhea)
- ECOG performance status (PS) 0-2 (Karnofsky PS 60-100%)
- Life expectancy > 3 months
- ANC ≥ 1,000/mm³
- Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm³
- Hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL
- Total bilirubin normal
- AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 times upper limit of normal
- Creatinine normal OR creatinine clearance ≥ 60 mL/min
- Baseline QTcF ≤ 470 msec
- No history of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to gamma secretase inhibitor RO4929097 or other agents used in the study
- No malabsorption syndrome or other condition that would interfere with intestinal absorption
- Able to swallow tablets
- Not serologically positive for hepatitis A, B, or C, or have a history of liver disease, other forms of hepatitis, or cirrhosis
- No uncontrolled electrolyte abnormalities including hypocalcemia, hypomagnesemia, hyponatremia, hypophosphatemia, or hypokalemia despite adequate electrolyte supplementation
No uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, any of the following:
- Ongoing or active infection
- Symptomatic congestive heart failure
- Unstable angina pectoris
- History of torsades de pointes or other significant cardiac arrhythmia other than chronic, stable atrial fibrillation
- Psychiatric illness and/or social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
- Recovered to < grade 2 CTCAE toxicities related to prior therapy
No prior chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, radiotherapy, or biological therapy for breast cancer
- Prior treatment for non-melanoma skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix allowed
- No prior hormone therapy for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
- No other concurrent investigational agents
- No concurrent medications with narrow therapeutic indices that are metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP450), including warfarin sodium (Coumadin®)
No concurrent medications that are strong inducers and/or inhibitors or substrates of CYP3A4
- Switching to alternative medications allowed
- No concurrent combination antiretroviral therapy for HIV-positive patients
- No concurrent antiarrhythmics or other medications known to prolong QTc
- No other concurrent anticancer agents or therapies
- No concurrent grapefruit juice
Sites / Locations
- University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC
- University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Experimental
Arm I
Patients receive oral letrozole once daily on days 1-21. Beginning in course 2, patients also receive oral RO4929097 on days 1-3, 8-10, and 15-18. Treatment repeats every 21 days for 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Beginning 1 week after completion of neoadjuvant therapy, patients undergo surgery or tumor biopsy. Patients continue to receive oral letrozole once daily during surgery and for an additional 4 weeks.