Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Recruiting

NCT Number: NCT06797635

Study of Patritumab Deruxtecan Plus Pembrolizumab With Other Anticancer Agents in Participants With High-Risk Early-Stage Triple-Negative or Hormone Receptor-Low Positive/HER-2 Negative Breast Cancer (MK-1022-010, HERTHENA-Breast-03)

Researchers are looking for new ways to treat triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and hormone receptor (HR) low positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) negative breast cancer. The main goals of this study are to learn:

* About the safety of the study treatments and if people tolerate them * If people who receive patritumab deruxtecan, pembrolizumab, and chemotherapy before surgery have fewer cancer cells removed during surgery compared to those who receive only pembrolizumab (pembro) and chemotherapy.

Recruiting

Interested in participating?

Request Info

Key information

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 2

Primary location

Asan Medical Center ( Site 2401), Seoul, South Korea

Loading trial locations.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

The main inclusion criteria include but are not limited to the following:

  • Has locally advanced, non-metastatic (M0), breast cancer, defined as any of the following combined primary tumor (T) and regional lymph node (N) staging per current American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) criteria: cT1c, N1-N2; cT2, N0-N2; cT3, N0-N2; or cT4a-d, N0-N2
  • Has centrally confirmed diagnosis of breast cancer that is triple-negative or HR-low+/HER2- breast cancer that will be treated according to the triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) paradigm
  • Participants who are Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive are eligible if they have received Hepatitis B virus (HBV) antiviral therapy for at least 4 weeks and have undetectable HBV viral load
  • Participants with a history of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are eligible if HCV viral load is undetectable
  • Has an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 to 1 within 28 days prior to allocation/randomization
  • Has left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of ≥50% or ≥ lower limit of normal (LLN) as assessed by echocardiogram (ECHO) or multigate acquisition scan (MUGA) scan

Exclusion criteria

The main exclusion criteria include but are not limited to the following:

  • Has uncontrolled or significant cardiovascular disease before randomization
  • Has any history of or evidence of any current leptomeningeal carcinomatosis.
  • Has clinically significant corneal disease
  • Has human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection with a history of Kaposi sarcoma and/or multicentric Castleman disease
  • Has evidence of ongoing, uncontrolled, systemic bacterial, fungal, or viral infection
  • Has received prior therapy with an anti-programmed death (PD)-1, anti-PD-L1, or anti-PD-L2 agent, or with an agent directed to another stimulatory or coinhibitory T-cell receptor
  • Has received any prior treatment, including radiation, systemic therapy, and/or definitive surgery for currently diagnosed breast cancer
  • Has received prior treatment with an anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 3 (HER3) antibody and/or antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that consists of an exatecan derivative that is a topoisomerase I inhibitor (e.g., trastuzumab deruxtecan)
  • Has metastatic (Stage IV) breast cancer or cN3 nodal involvement
  • Has known additional malignancy that is progressing or has required active treatment within the past 5 years
  • Has known active central nervous system (CNS) metastases and/or carcinomatous meningitis
  • Has any history of interstitial lung disease (ILD)/pneumonitis irrespective of steroid use, or current or suspected ILD
  • Has an active infection requiring systemic therapy
  • Has concurrent active HBV and HCV infection
  • Has clinically severe respiratory compromise resulting from intercurrent pulmonary illness

Treatment and study plan

Patritumab deruxtecan

Biological

Administered via IV infusion as neoadjuvant treatment

Other names: MK-1022, HER3-DXd, U3-1402

Pembrolizumab

Biological

Administered via IV infusion as neoadjuvant treatment in Part 1 and via IV infusion as neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment in Part 2

Other names: MK-3475, KEYTRUDA®

paclitaxel

Drug

Administered via IV infusion as neoadjuvant treatment

Other names: TAXOL®, ONXAL®

carboplatin

Drug

Administered via IV infusion as neoadjuvant treatment

Other names: PARAPLATIN®

Doxorubicin hydrochloride

Drug

Administered via IV infusion as neoadjuvant treatment in Arm C and an option for adjuvant treatment for participants with residual disease in Arms A and B in Part 2

Other names: ADRIAMYCIN®

epirubicin hydrochloride

Drug

Administered via IV infusion as neoadjuvant treatment in Arm C and an option for adjuvant treatment for participants with residual disease in Arms A and B in Part 2

Other names: ELLENCE®

Cyclophosphamide

Drug

Administered via IV infusion as neoadjuvant treatment in Arm C and an option for adjuvant treatment for participants with residual disease in Arms A and B in Part 2

Other names: CYTOXAN®

Capecitabine

Drug

Administered via oral tablets as an option for adjuvant treatment for participants with residual disease in Part 2

Other names: XELODA®

Olaparib

Drug

Administered via oral tablets as an option for adjuvant treatment for participants with germline BRCA mutations and residual disease in Part 2

Other names: LYNPARZA®

Primary outcomes

  1. Part 1: Number of Participants Experiencing an Adverse Event (AE)

    Time frame: Up to ~43 weeks

    An AE is defined as any unfavorable and unintended sign, symptom, disease, or worsening of preexisting condition temporally associated with study treatment and irrespective of causality to study treatment. The number of participants who experience an AE will be presented for Part 1.

  2. Part 1: Number of Participants Who Experience One or More Dose-Limiting Toxicities (DLTs)

    Time frame: Up to 21 days

    A DLT is defined by the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology for Adverse Events (NCI CTCAE) Version 5.0, assessed by investigator as drug-related: Grade (gr) 3 or 4 nonhematologic toxicity (with exceptions); gr 3 or gr 4 laboratory values (with exceptions); gr 3 or 4 febrile neutropenia; prolonged delay (>2 weeks) in initiating Cycle 2 (cycle length = 3 weeks) due to intervention-related toxicity; any intervention-related toxicity that causes the participant to discontinue intervention during Cycle 1; interstitial lung disease as per investigator; any other gr ≥3 pulmonary toxicity; or gr 5 toxicity.

  3. Part 1: Number of Participants who Discontinued Study Treatment Due to an AE

    Time frame: Up to ~30 weeks

    An AE is defined as any unfavorable and unintended sign, symptom, disease, or worsening of preexisting condition temporally associated with study treatment and irrespective of causality to study treatment. The number of participants who discontinued study treatment due to an AE will be presented for Part 1.

  4. Part 2: Pathological Complete Response (pCR) Rate Using the Definition of ypT0/Tis ypN0

    Time frame: Up to ~30 weeks

    pCR (ypT0/Tis ypN0) is defined as the absence of residual invasive cancer on hematoxylin and eosin evaluation of the complete resected breast specimen and all sampled regional lymph nodes after completion of neoadjuvant systemic therapy at the time of definitive surgery.

  5. Part 2: Number of Participants Experiencing an AE

    Time frame: Up to ~103 weeks

    An AE is defined as any unfavorable and unintended sign, symptom, disease, or worsening of preexisting condition temporally associated with study treatment and irrespective of causality to study treatment. The number of participants who experience an AE will be presented for Part 2.

  6. Part 2: Number of Participants who Discontinued Study Treatment Due to an AE

    Time frame: Up to ~90 weeks

    An AE is defined as any unfavorable and unintended sign, symptom, disease, or worsening of preexisting condition temporally associated with study treatment and irrespective of causality to study treatment. The number of participants who discontinued study treatment due to an AE will be presented for Part 2.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Part 2: pCR-No Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS) Rate Using the Definition of ypT0 ypN0

    Time frame: Up to ~30 weeks

    pCR-no DCIS (ypT0 ypN0) is defined as the absence of residual invasive and in situ cancer on hematoxylin and eosin evaluation of the complete resected breast specimen and all sampled regional lymph nodes after completion of neoadjuvant systemic therapy at the time of definitive surgery.

  2. Part 2: Event-Free Survival (EFS)

    Time frame: Up to ~100 months

    EFS is defined as the time from randomization to disease progression that precludes surgery, local or distant recurrence, or death due to any cause, whichever occurs first.

  3. Part 2: Overall Survival (OS)

    Time frame: Up to ~100 months

    OS is defined as the time from randomization to date of death due to any cause.

  4. Part 2: Distant Progression or Distant Recurrence-Free Survival (DPDRFS)

    Time frame: Up to ~100 months

    DPDRFS is defined as the time from randomization to first distant progression or distant recurrence event as assessed or death due to any cause, whichever occurs first.

  5. Part 2: Residual Cancer Burden (RCB)

    Time frame: Up to ~30 weeks

    RCB is defined as residual disease in either the breast or lymph node at the time of surgery. RCB score provides a continuous measurement of the extent of residual cancer. There are four RCB classes: RCB-0 (RCB score 0), RCB-1 (0< RCB score <1.36), RCB-2 (1.36 <RCB score <3.28), and RCB-3 (RCB score >3.28).

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Toll Free Number

CONTACT

[email protected]

1-888-577-8839

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC

Industry

Collaborators

  • Daiichi Sankyo

Registry information

Official study title

An Open-label Randomized Phase 2 Study to Evaluate Safety and Efficacy of Patritumab Deruxtecan Plus Pembrolizumab Administered Either Before or After Carboplatin/Paclitaxel Plus Pembrolizumab Compared With Pembrolizumab in Combination With Chemotherapy Followed by Surgery and Adjuvant Pembrolizumab for High-Risk Early-Stage Triple-Negative or Hormone Receptor-Low Positive/Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor-2 Negative Breast Cancer (HERTHENA-Breast03)

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2029
Study completion
2034
First posted
Jan 28, 2025
Registry last updated
May 20, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.