Study of Propranolol in Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

While a number of therapeutic options exist for patients with breast cancer (BC), breast tumor biology is differs across tumors and not all BCs respond to treatment. Identifying a marker predicting response could spare non-responders unnecessary side effects, cost, and time. A recent example in BC is bevacizumab, an expensive anti-angiogenic monoclonal antibody, for which the FDA revoked approval for patients with metastatic BC. While this targeted therapy may benefit some patients, no appropriate predictive marker has been identified in the drug development process. An ideal biologic marker would be easy to perform, reliable, low-cost and non-invasive. A limitation of assessing tumor-based markers in metastatic BC is the inability to procure tumor tissue at different treatment times. To circumvent this issue, anti-cancer agents can be assessed pre-operatively, where women with newly diagnosed BC receive a study drug, alone or with chemotherapy, between diagnostic breast biopsy and surgical resection. In addition, tumor changes can be directly compared to modulation of non-invasive markers, such as functional radiographs or blood, to identify a non-invasive marker predicting tumor response.

The investigators are conducting a neoadjuvant single-institution trial with the non-selective, inexpensive β -blocker propranolol with chemotherapy in locally advanced BC. β-blockade regulates angiogenesis in primary breast tumors. In these trials, the investigators plan to evaluate treatment-related microvascular response via changes in breast Diffuse Optical Tomography (DOT), a non-invasive, fast, safe, and inexpensive breast imaging tool. As the optical property contrast from endogenous chromophores (oxyhemoglobin, deoxyhemoglobin, water, and lipid) provides information on tissue vascularity, it can monitor response to anti-angiogenic agents. DOT changes occur as early as 1 week after starting pre-operative therapy. The dynamic DOT system incorporated in these trials is unique to Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), as it has been designed by Columbia biomedical engineers. CUMC's laboratory collaborators have measured this DOT system with anti-angiogenesis agents in animal models, demonstrating the translational nature of this project. While non-dynamic DOT has been assessed in other neoadjuvant trials with small cohorts receiving heterogeneous chemotherapy agents, none have evaluated DOT response to anti-angiogenic agents.

Inclusion criteria

• English or Spanish speaking women age ≥18
• Heart Rate > 60 bpm
• Systolic Blood Pressure > 100 mm/Hg
• Deemed eligible to receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy with 12 cycles of weekly taxane therapy (paclitaxel 80mg/m2 or Abraxane 100 mg/m2 if there is a shortage of paclitaxel) followed by 4 cycles of Adriamycin (60mg/m2) and cyclophosphamide (600 mg/m2) given every 2 weeks with growth-factor support.
• Echocardiogram (ECHO) or multiple-gated acquisition scan (MUGA) with ejection fraction > 50%.
• Patients with hormone receptor +/- and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 protein (HER2) +/- breast cancer are eligible
• If a patient has HER2-positive breast cancer, Herceptin and Perjeta will be given along with taxane therapy
• Any stage invasive breast cancer provided the primary breast tumor size is ≥ 1 cm
• Agree to participate in research blood collection at 4 different time periods (20 ml = 4 teaspoons)
• Agree to the evaluation of already collected core biopsy, as well as surgical resection tissue, for predictive biomarkers. The biopsy prior to Taxol #1 is optional.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients failing to meet the inclusion criteria
• Corrected QT interval (QTc) prolongation as defined by > 470 milliseconds on electrocardiogram (ECG)
• First-degree Atrioventricular (AV) block on ECG in which P-R interval lengthened > 200 milliseconds; Second Degree; or Third Degree
• On beta-blocker treatment. If discontinued, patients must have been off beta-blockers for at least 3 months.
• History of asthma, given concern for β-blockade in this population