A Phase II Study of STEMVAC Vaccine Therapy for Patients With Hormone Receptor Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer
Summary
This phase II trial studies how well a vaccine, STEMVAC, works in combination with standard endocrine-based therapy (ET) with a CDK4/6 targeted drug therapy, or with the chemotherapy drug capecitabine, in treating patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic). STEMVAC is designed to target proteins that cancer cells use when they become more aggressive and start to spread, and it is believed to work by boosting the immune system to recognize and destroy the invader tumor cells that are causing the disease. Standard ET is treatment that adds, blocks, or removes hormones in order to slow or stop the growth of cancer. Standard CDK4/6 inhibitors, including abemaciclib, may stop the growth of tumor cells and may kill them by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Capecitabine is in a class of medications called antimetabolites. It is taken up by tumor cells and breaks down into fluorouracil, a substance that kills tumor cells. Giving STEMVAC in combination with standard ET or chemotherapy may be an effective treatment for metastatic HR positive, HER2 negative breast cancer.
Detailed description
OUTLINE: Patients with ET-sensitive disease are assigned to Cohort 1, while patients with ET-resistant disease are assigned to Cohort 2. COHORT 1: After completion of 2 cycles of standard of care (SOC) ET + CDK4/6 inhibitor (CDK4/6i) therapy or abemaciclib alone, patients receive STEMVAC intradermally (ID) on the following schedule: 1) Three "priming" doses every 28 days; 2) Two "booster" doses at 6 and 9 months after "priming" dose #1; and 3) Additional "booster" doses every 6 months in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients also undergo image-guided biopsies for research purposes, as well as collection of blood samples and computed tomography (CT) or positron emission tomography (PET) scans throughout the trial. COHORT 2: After completion of 1 cycle of SOC capecitabine treatment, patients receive STEMVAC ID on the following schedule: 1) Three "priming" doses every 28 days; 2) Two "booster" doses at 6 and 9 months after "priming" dose #1; and 3) Additional "booster" doses every 6 months in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients also undergo image-guided biopsies for research purposes, collection of blood samples, and fluoroestradiol (FES) positron emission tomography (PET) scans, as well as CT or PET scans throughout the trial. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 6 months for 3 years.
Arms & interventions
- BiologicalCD105/Yb-1/SOX2/CDH3/MDM2-polyepitope Plasmid DNA Vaccine
Given ID
- DrugCapecitabine
Given SOC capecitabine
- ProcedureComputed Tomography
Undergo CT or ultrasound-guided biopsies
- DrugCyclin-Dependent Kinase 4 Inhibitor
Given SOC CDK4/6i
- DrugCyclin-Dependent Kinase 6 Inhibitor
Given SOC CDK4/6i
- DrugF-18 16 Alpha-Fluoroestradiol
Undergo FES PET
- DrugHormone Therapy
Given SOC ET
- ProcedurePositron Emission Tomography
Undergo PET or FES PET
- ProcedureBiopsy Procedure
Undergo image-guided biopsies
- ProcedureBiospecimen Collection
Undergo collection of blood samples
- DrugAbemaciclib
Given SOC abemaciclib
Outcome measures
Primary
Incidence of adverse events (AEs)
Safety and systemic toxicity will be determined by chemical and clinical parameters evaluated at various time points. Toxicity grading will be evaluated according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 6.0 and monitoring of AEs will be done per Food and Drug Administration and NCI guidelines. The type and grade of toxicities noted during the immunization regimen will be summarized. The duration of toxicities will also be summarized using descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation. All AEs noted by the investigator will be tabulated according to the affected body system. The frequency and severity of adverse events will be summarized with a proportion and a 95% confidence interval (CI).
Time frame: Up to 3 years after completion of study treatment
Incidence of immunogenicity
Will be defined as the sum of the interferon gamma enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot of all STEMVAC antigens on blood samples collected pre-vaccine as compared to 1-month post dose #3 of the STEMVAC vaccine and again after 2 booster doses of STEMVAC vaccine. Both incidence and magnitude will be assessed. Immune responses will be summarized with mean and standard deviation or median and range (if skewness is observed) over time, the change over time will be summarized with graphs, and also analyzed using linear mixed-effects regression models with normalizing transformation if necessary.
Time frame: Pre-vaccine up to after 2 booster doses of STEMVAC vaccine (Up to 40 weeks)
Secondary
Progression-free survival (PFS)
Time frame: From the start of treatment to the worsening of cancer as determined by primary treating oncologist or death whichever occurs first, assessed up to 3 years after completion of study treatment
Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)
Time frame: Up to 3 years after completion of study treatment
Elimination of cancer cells associated with epithelial to mesenchymal transformation (EMT)
Time frame: Up to 3 years after completion of study treatment
Eligibility criteria
Study locations (1)
Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium
Seattle, Washington, 98109