Tucatinib and Trastuzumab in HER3-mutant and HER2-not Amplified Metastatic Breast Cancer: a Proof of Concept Study (H3RAKLES)
The H3RAKLES trial would allow patients with a progressive metastatic breast cancer to have access to one more line of systemic therapy. Patients included in this trial will have already received at least two lines of chemotherapy (and potentially several lines of endocrine therapy for patients with a HR+ disease). In this setting, few treatments have demonstrated a clinically meaningful benefit, and any additional option is valuable. Furthermore, the pre-clinical and clinical rationale indicate a high probability of clinical benefit, as previously shown in Table 1, with all patients treated with trastuzumab and a TKI targeting HER2 displaying a response. Besides, with several years of hindsight for the combination of lapatinib, trastuzumab and capecitabine, we expect excellent tolerance with the same treatment without capecitabine. The H3RAKLES single-arm phase II trial will evaluate the combination of tucatinib, a HER2 TKI, and trastuzumab, a HER2-directed antibody in patients with a HER2-not amplified metastatic or unresectable breast cancer harboring an activating ERBB3 mutation. To demonstrate the actionability of ERBB3 mutations, all patients will receive a combination of trastuzumab and tucatinib, in 3-weeks cycles.
• Age ≥ 18 years
• Metastatic or unresectable breast cancer
• HER2-negative (defined as having an IHC 0+, IHC 1+, or IHC 2+ and ISH non-amplified, per ASCO/CAP guidelines) on last assessable tumor sample
• Having received ≥ 2 previous chemotherapy lines for advanced breast cancer: including at least one line of conjugated antibody, at the investigator's discretion or if a germinal BRCA mutation is present, a PARP inhibitor.
• Class IV or V somatic ERBB3 mutation as determined on a tumor sample obtained during the molecular screening step
• ECOG performance status ≤ 2 (Appendix A)
• Evaluable disease, per RECIST v1.1 inclusion criteria
• Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥50% as assessed by echocardiogram (ECHO) or multiple-gated acquisition scan (MUGA) documented within 4 weeks prior to first dose of study treatment
• Adequate organ function:
‣ Creatinine clearance ≥ 50 mL/min as calculated per institutional guidelines
⁃ Total bilirubin ≤1.5 X upper limit of normal (ULN), except for patients with known Gilbert's disease, who may enroll if the conjugated bilirubin is ≤1.5 X ULN.
⁃ Transaminases (aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase) ≤ 2.5 X ULN (≤ 5 X ULN if the patient has liver metastases)
• Women of childbearing potential (WCBP) must have a negative serum pregnancy test \< 7 days prior to first dose of treatment. A woman is considered of childbearing potential following menarche and until becoming post-menopausal unless permanently sterile. A postmenopausal state is defined as the absence of menses for 12 months without an alternative cause.
• WCBP (as defined above) and men with partners of childbearing potential must agree to use a highly effective birth control method during the study and for 3 months after completion of investigational treatment.
• Patients should be eligible for the treatment step according to the investigator's opinion.
• Patients must be covered by a health insurance plan.
• Patients able to provide signed informed consent.