Active clinical trials for "Inflammatory Breast Neoplasms"

Current guidelines as those from the AGO-Breast commission recommend for neoadjuvant breast cancer patients either a sequence of 4 cycles EC followed by 4 cycles of a taxane or 6 cycles of TAC based on previous large scale studies. Treatment of patients with HER2-positive disease should include also simultaneous application of trastuzumab. Solvent-based taxanes (paclitaxel, docetaxel) cause severe toxicities not only by the active agents itself but also by the solvents like cremophor. Nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane®) is a solvent-free formulation of paclitaxel encapsulated in albumin. It does not require premedication with corticosteroids or antihistamines to prevent the risk of solvent-mediated hypersensitivity reactions. This new formulation improves safety profile, allows higher dosing with shorter infusion duration, and produces higher tumor drug concentration. As neoadjuvant treatment does not only allow to compare competing treatment approaches with a very high quality (homogenous treatment population, precise assessment of response by histological assessment), but also to identify predictive markers, this trial will compare weekly nab-paclitaxel with solvent-based paclitaxel at their currently optimal doses. In case of HER2-positive tumor status patients receive Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab additionally.

Study participants with primary breast cancer will receive a standard chemotherapy with an anthracycline and a taxane as well as trastuzumab in case of HER2-positive tumors at doses and duration in concordance to current treatment guidelines. Patients will be receive and benefit in addition currently not in the neoadjuvant setting registered medication as lapatinib or bevacizumab of which significant increases of cure (pCR) rates have been reported in previous phase III studies. Patients randomized to carboplatin will receive in addition to the described backbone therapies a potentially active agent which suggested synergy of efficacy with chemotherapies as well as targeted agents. Patients might have the risk of an increase in toxicities due to the added agents and will have additional burden due to investigations required for study participation. However, due to the severity of the underlying disease and the high risk of relapse and death due to the stage of disease, this increase in toxicity and burden appears less relevant compared to the potential higher efficacy and finally cure rate by the incorporated treatments.

RATIONALE: Monoclonal antibodies, such as bevacizumab, can block tumor growth in different ways. Some block the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Others find tumor cells and help kill them or carry tumor-killing substances to them. Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving bevacizumab and combination chemotherapy before surgery may make the tumor smaller and reduce the amount of normal tissue that needs to be removed. Giving bevacizumab and radiation therapy after surgery may kill any tumor cells that remain after surgery. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying giving bevacizumab together with chemotherapy before surgery and bevacizumab and radiation therapy after surgery to see how well it works in treating patients with inflammatory breast cancer.

Phase I/II trial to study the effectiveness of neoadjuvant tipifarnib combined with docetaxel and capecitabine in treating patients who have locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors or stage IIIA or stage IIIB breast cancer. Tipifarnib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for cancer cell growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as docetaxel and capecitabine, use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining tipifarnib with docetaxel and capecitabine may kill more tumor cells.

This study will evaluate the effectiveness of the drug bevacizumab, in combination with doxorubicin and docetaxel, in improving survival of patients with inflammatory breast cancer or locally advanced breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is an aggressive form of locally advanced breast cancer that often causes a red, swollen, tender breast and is associated with a poor prognosis. Bevacizumab blocks the growth of new blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to tumors, and therefore, may kill cancer cells or stop their growth. Doxorubicin and docetaxel are approved drugs for treating breast cancer. Patients 18 years of age or older with stage inflammatory breast cancer who have not been treated with chemotherapy or radiation therapy may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with a medical history and physical examination, blood and urine tests, chest x-ray, electrocardiogram, and MUGA scan or echocardiography (see below). A mammogram of both breasts, dynamic MRI imaging of the affected breast, computed tomography (CT) of the head, chest, abdomen and pelvis, and a bone scan are done to determine the extent of disease. Participants undergo the following procedures at various intervals before, during and/or after completing chemotherapy: Tumor and skin biopsies to study the effects of bevacizumab on tumor blood vessels, tumor growth, and the biology of inflammatory breast cancer. A small piece of tumor tissue and a small piece of skin from the affected breast are removed under local anesthesia for microscopic study. Dynamic MRI to examine changes in the blood vessels and breast cancer following bevacizumab treatment. This test involves injecting a contrast liquid into a vein before scanning. A standard MRI scan is done before the dynamic MRI. Blood tests are done to 1) study clot formation and breakdown, 2) measure levels of VEGF (a substance produced by breast cancer cells) and VCAM-1 (a substance produced by cells lining blood vessel walls), and 3) check blood counts and liver and kidney function. MUGA (a nuclear medicine scan that checks the heart's pumping ability) or echocardiogram (ultrasound scan of the heart to evaluate heart function. Blood pressure monitoring Urine tests CT scans and x-rays to evaluate disease before and after treatment. Patients will have a central venous line (plastic tube) placed into a major vein in the chest before beginning treatment. The line stays in the body during the entire treatment period and is used to give chemotherapy and other medications, if needed, and to draw blood samples. All treatment is given on a single day every 3 weeks. This constitutes one treatment cycle. Cycle 1 consists of bevacizumab alone; cycles 2 through 7 consist of bevacizumab with doxorubicin and docetaxel. During each cycle, patients also receive injections under the skin of G-CSF, a drug that raises the number of infection-fighting white blood cells, which are often decreased as a side effect of chemotherapy. After cycle 7, patients may require surgery and radiation or radiation alone. After radiation treatment, bevacizumab is re-started, given alone every 3 weeks for an additional eight cycles. Patients whose tumors are positive for estrogen or progesterone receptors will be advised to take the drug tamoxifen or anastrozole for 5 years to decrease the chances of disease recurrence. This would begin with cycle 8.

Study of efficacy of nivolumab with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with IBC

This phase II trial studies how well atorvastatin works in treating patients with stages IIb-III triple negative breast cancer who did not achieve a pathologic complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Pathologic complete response is the lack of all signs of cancer in tissue samples removed during surgery after upfront chemotherapy. Atorvastatin is used for the treatment of high cholesterol and may reduce the risk of triple negative breast cancer from coming back. Triple-negative breast cancer is a type of breast malignancy that is comprised of cancer cells that do not have estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, or large amounts of HER2/neu protein. Patients with TNBC do not have established systemic therapies such as anti-estrogens or HER2-targeting agents to reduce recurrence after surgery, and residual cancer found at surgery is associated with higher relapse rate.

The investigators hypotheses that paclitaxel combined with cisplatin in a weekly-based regimen as neoadjuvant chemotherapy is effective and tolerable for locally advanced breast cancer.

The goal of this clinical research study is to learn if dovitinib can help to control inflammatory breast cancer. The safety of this drug will also be studied.

The double blind part of the study is being conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of pazopanib in combination with lapatinib with that of lapatinib alone in subjects with inflammatory breast cancer whose tumors overexpress the ErbB2 protein. There is also an Open-label pazopanib arm to this study designed to test whether pazopanib given alone and lapatinib given alone would be safe and effective to treat patients with inflammatory breast cancer.