AzTrials
AzTrials

Metastatic Invasive Breast CancerPhase 2NCT07729046

Neu Direction: Testing the Efficacy of Adding HER Inhibition to Standard of Care in Metastatic MLH1-low Endocrine-resistant ER+/HER2- Breast Cancer

A Phase 2 study testing Neratinib + endocrine therapy, Endocrine therapy may include one of the following therapies: letrozole, anastrozole, exemestane, tamoxifen or fulvestrant and CDK4/6 + Endocrine therapy in people with Metastatic Invasive Breast Cancer and Resistant Breast Cancer, run by University of California, San Diego at 1 site in United States.

Not yet recruiting

Opening soon. The study is approved but enrolment has not started yet. Sites may already take enquiries.

Sites and contacts
Official record
Search all trials

Trial summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if neratinib, an FDA-approved oral pan-HER2/3/4 inhibitor, improves disease control for participants with metastatic endocrine-resistant ER+/HER2-negative breast cancer. Neratinib is already approved for the treatment of HER2-postive breast cancers. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older, women only
What is being tested?
Neratinib + endocrine therapy, Endocrine therapy may include one of the following therapies: letrozole, anastrozole, exemestane, tamoxifen or fulvestrant and CDK4/6 + Endocrine therapy
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
150 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
Jul 2027to Jun 2035
Phase
Phase 2
Are there results?
Not yet: the study is under way

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • Women only
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Female over the age of 18 at the time of study enrollment
  • Not pregnant, planning to become pregnant or breast feeding
  • Metastatic ER+/HER2- breast cancer that has progressed on 1st line therapy including endocrine therapy +/- CDK4/6 inhibitors
  • At least one metastatic lesion visible on imaging (including FDG-PET)
  • At least one metastatic lesion must be biopsied and confirmed ER+ and HER2- by immunohistochemistry within 6 months of study screening (HER2 equivocal disease will be confirmed HER2- by FISH)
  • Tumors must be MLH1-low defined by <50% tumor cells positive for nuclear MLH1 expression on immunohistochemistry
Show all 10Show fewer
  • Standard of care next line endocrine therapy can include any endocrine therapy
  • Performance status ECOG > 3
  • Life expectancy > 1 year
  • Ability to get serial imaging studies

Who cannot join

  • History of concurrent use of other HER2-targeted therapy
  • Concurrent use of other targeted systemic therapy
  • History of other cancers other than non-melanoma skin cancer
  • Actionable mutations on tumor genomic sequencing will be ineligible, and those participants encouraged to proceed with the relevant targeted therapy
  • Participants where there is not at least one imaging apparent lesion that has not been treated with prior targeted therapy (for example palliative radiation or cryoablation)
  • Contraindications to Neratinib use including allergy or hypersensitivity
  • Baseline grade 3+ diarrhea

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.

Asona Lui, MD, PhD contact

858-822-4319

ajlui@health.ucsd.edu

Alyssa Beck, MD contact

858-657-7000

a4beck@health.ucsd.edu

United States1 site
  • UC San Diego Health Moores Cancer Center

    La Jolla, California, 92037

    Sauntee Braddock, 858-534-8248, sbraddock@health.ucsd.edu

    Asona Lui, MD, PhD

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: Neu Direction: A Single Center Phase II Randomized Clinical Trial to Assess the Efficacy of Adding HER Inhibition to Standard of Care in Patients With Metastatic MLH1-low Endocrine-resistant ER+/HER2- Breast Cancer

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if neratinib, an FDA-approved oral pan-HER2/3/4 inhibitor, improves disease control for participants with metastatic endocrine-resistant ER+/HER2-negative breast cancer. Neratinib is already approved for the treatment of HER2-postive breast cancers. The study will also learn about the safety of adding this drug to standard of care treatments. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  1. Does adding neratinib to standard of care systemic therapy improve disease control for patients with metastatic hormone-driven breast cancer that is resistant to endocrine therapy?
  2. What side effects do participants have when adding neratinib to standard of care therapy? Researchers will compare standard of care endocrine therapy regimens with and without neratinib to see if neratinib improves control of treatment-resistant metastatic breast cancer that has continued to progress while eon first line endocrine therapy.
Read more

Participants will:

  1. Take standard of care endocrine therapy for metastatic endocrine-resistant breast cancer as determined by their medical oncologist or standard of care therapy with neratinib daily
  2. Visit the clinic every 3 months for checkups, tests and imaging studies
Read the detailed description

This is a prospective 2-arm Phase II study testing the efficacy of adding neratinib to standard of care therapy in patients with MLH1-low ER+/HER2- endocrine-resistant breast cancer . Patients with endocrine-resistant ER+/HER2- breast cancer who have lesions visible on CT scan will be recruited as they are seen in breast medical oncology and radiation oncology clinics at UC San Diego Health. Patients will be eligible if they have measurable persistent, recurrent, progressive or metastatic disease on imaging (including FDG PET scan) while on endocrine therapy. At least one lesion must be biopsied and confirmed ER+ by immunohistochemistry and HER2- within 6 months of study screening. Genomic mutation profile will be analyzed along with trial results to identify other potential mutations associated with MLH1 expression and/or neratinib response. Participants will be stratified by nuclear MLH1 expression on their biopsy tissue using immunohistochemistry. MLH1negative (nuclear MLH1 detectable in <5% of tumor cells) and MLH1-low patients (<50% tumor cells positive) hereafter grouped as "MLH1-low" will be randomized to standard of care without (75 participants) or with (75 participants) the addition of neratinib in Arm 1 and Arm 2 respectively . Standard of care therapy can include any endocrine therapy with or without CDK4/6 inhibitors. Prior exposure to CDK4/6 inhibitors is acceptable but not prior HER2-targeted therapy. Neratinib will be administered with a standard ramp up to therapeutic dose to minimize side effects with 120mg daily for 1 week, 160mg daily for 1 week and then 240mg daily thereafter. Treatment response will be monitored via imaging every 3 months while on study and measured using RECIST v. 1.1 criteria and/or mPERCIST criteria as appropriate using FDG-PET. Participants will remain on study until cessation due to side effects or disease progression. Biopsy at disease progression will be encouraged but not required.

Being tested
Neratinib + endocrine therapy, Endocrine therapy may include one of the following therapies: letrozole, anastrozole, exemestane, tamoxifen or fulvestrant, CDK4/6 + Endocrine therapy
Keywords
endocrine-resistant, DNA mismatch repair, MLH1, dMMR, metastatic breast cancer, ER+ breast cancer, endocrine-resistance, HER2 negative, HER2-, neratinib
Medical subject headings
Breast Neoplasms

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Neratinib + endocrine therapyDrug

    Also called neratinib

    Neratinib 120mg daily for 1 week, 160mg daily for 1 week and then 240mg daily thereafter

  • Endocrine therapy may include one of the following therapies: letrozole, anastrozole, exemestane, tamoxifen or fulvestrantDrug

    Endocrine therapy with out without CDK4/6 inhibitor

  • CDK4/6 + Endocrine therapyDrug

    Endocrine therapy with or without CDK 4/6 inhibitor

Study groups in NCT07729046
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Standard of CareActive comparatorStandard of Care 2nd or 3rd line endocrine therapy with or without CDK4/6 inhibitor
Receives: Drug: Endocrine therapy may include one of the following therapies: letrozole, anastrozole, exemestane, tamoxifen or fulvestrant; Drug: CDK4/6 + Endocrine therapy
Stanard of Care + NeratinibExperimentalStandard of Care 2nd or 3rd line endocrine therapy with or without CDK4/6 inhibitor + Neratinib
Receives: Drug: Neratinib + endocrine therapy; Drug: CDK4/6 + Endocrine therapy

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Median Progression-Free Survival

    Measured: From enrollment through study completion, an average of 1 year.

  2. Number of participants with treatment-related adverse events as assessed by CTCAE v4.0

    Adverse events will be quantified using the CTCAE v4.0 every 3 months

    Measured: From enrollment through study completion, an average of 1 year.

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted27 Jul 2026
  2. Study startJul 2027 (estimated)
  3. Primary completionMay 2032 (estimated)
  4. Study completionJun 2035 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
Single blind
Who is masked
Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
150 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT07729046
Sponsor's protocol ID
BC250474
Other IDs
BC250474, 813310
Status last verified
Jul 2026
First submitted
14 Jul 2026
Last updated
27 Jul 2026
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
Yes: Only IPD used in the results publication

Publications

  • Mazumder A, Dewitt J, Oropeza E, Punturi N, Lozano D, Raghunathan M, Piscitelli J, Sajjadi E, GueriniRocco E, Venetis K, Ivanova M, Mane E, Dercole M, Concardi A, Fusco N, Manhart C, Bainbridge M, Haricharan S. Aberrant cytoplasmic localization of MLH1 characterizes a cell population that seeds breast cancer recurrence. Nat Commun. 2025 Dec 10;17(1):564. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-67257-8.

    PubMed 41372237
  • Sajjadi E, Venetis K, Piciotti R, Invernizzi M, Guerini-Rocco E, Haricharan S, Fusco N. Mismatch repair-deficient hormone receptor-positive breast cancers: Biology and pathological characterization. Cancer Cell Int. 2021 May 17;21(1):266. doi: 10.1186/s12935-021-01976-y.

    PubMed 34001143
  • Anurag M, Punturi N, Hoog J, Bainbridge MN, Ellis MJ, Haricharan S. Comprehensive Profiling of DNA Repair Defects in Breast Cancer Identifies a Novel Class of Endocrine Therapy Resistance Drivers. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Oct 1;24(19):4887-4899. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-17-3702. Epub 2018 May 23.

    PubMed 29793947
  • Haricharan S, Punturi N, Singh P, Holloway KR, Anurag M, Schmelz J, Schmidt C, Lei JT, Suman V, Hunt K, Olson JA Jr, Hoog J, Li S, Huang S, Edwards DP, Kavuri SM, Bainbridge MN, Ma CX, Ellis MJ. Loss of MutL Disrupts CHK2-Dependent Cell-Cycle Control through CDK4/6 to Promote Intrinsic Endocrine Therapy Resistance in Primary Breast Cancer. Cancer Discov. 2017 Oct;7(10):1168-1183. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-16-1179. Epub 2017 Aug 11.

    PubMed 28801307
  • Punturi NB, Seker S, Devarakonda V, Mazumder A, Kalra R, Chen CH, Li S, Primeau T, Ellis MJ, Kavuri SM, Haricharan S. Mismatch repair deficiency predicts response to HER2 blockade in HER2-negative breast cancer. Nat Commun. 2021 May 19;12(1):2940. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-23271-0.

    PubMed 34011995

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Phase 2 study testing Neratinib + endocrine therapy, Endocrine therapy may include one of the following therapies: letrozole, anastrozole, exemestane, tamoxifen or fulvestrant and CDK4/6 + Endocrine therapy in people with Metastatic Invasive Breast Cancer and Resistant Breast Cancer, run by University of California, San Diego at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 10 inclusion and 7 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 27 Jul 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

What does this phase mean?

Phase 2 studies give the treatment to a larger group to see whether it has the intended effect and to keep checking safety.

Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.

Are results available for this study?

This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

Contact Asona Lui, MD, PhD (858-822-4319, ajlui@health.ucsd.edu), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Median Progression-Free Survival (time frame: From enrollment through study completion, an average of 1 year.). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT07729046, which also lists 5 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 27 Jul 2026.

Free account

Log in to keep searching

You’ve used your 3 free searches. AzTrials is free: log in or create a free account to keep searching clinical trials and save the ones you want to follow.

Create a free accountLog in