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NCT Number: NCT07694986

Trial of Therapies With IT cDC1s Combined w/ IT Trastuzamab for Her+ or IT Nivolumab for Her- BC LMD

The purpose of this study is to learn about the effects of the study treatment, Dendritic Cell Vaccine (DCV), in combination with trastuzumab or nivolumab to confirm the highest dose of the study treatment that can be given safely to participants with Breast Cancer (BC) with Leptomeningeal Disease (LMD).

Recruiting

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Key information

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 2

Primary location

Moffitt Cancer Center

Tampa, Florida, 33612, United States

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

Aixa Soyano Muller, MD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Alisha Fell, ARNP

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Andre Beer Furlan, MD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Arnold Etame, MD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Brian Czerniecki, MD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Hien Liu, MD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Hyo Han, MD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

James Liu, MD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Joaquim Farinhas, MD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Kamran Ahmed, MD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Michael Vogelbaum, MD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Michael Yu, MD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Nam Tran, MD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Patrick Grogan, MD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Peter Forsyth, MD

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Sepideh Mokhtari, MD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Yolanda Pina, MD

SUB_INVESTIGATOR

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Histologically or cytologically confirmed diagnosis of BC by ASCO/CAP guidelines (Wolff et al, 2018), or radiographically definite LMD from BC.
  • Trial participants must have a diagnosis of LMD. They must have the presence of malignant cells in the CSF (CSF+; note now cytology is considered diagnostic of LMD if the cytology is read as positive or suspicious; [Chamberlain et al., 2017] OR characteristic radiographic abnormalities of LMD). Signs and symptoms of LMD in and of themselves are not sufficient for inclusion.
  • Patients must have an ECOG performance scale of ≤2.
  • Proton cranial spinal RT OR cranial spinal RT using IMRT are the preferred modalities of RT to treat LMD if possible, before study. At least WBRT is required for participation.
  • Coincident brain or spinal cord metastases are allowed if these are stable and do not require local therapy at the time of enrollment. Individuals with previously treated stable brain metastases are eligible to participate.
  • Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and/or prior radiotherapy is permitted ≥2 weeks before the initial dendritic cell (DC) vaccine dose. A follow-up brain MRI should be obtained before the DC vaccine to determine the stability of the lesions. An interval of at least 2 weeks after the end of brain radiation or surgical resection of brain lesions or cytotoxic, targeted, immune, or investigational agent is required.
  • Must be ≥18 years of age on the day of signing the consent.
  • Life expectancy of ≥8 weeks.
  • Demonstrate adequate organ function as defined in Table 5. All screening labs should be performed within 14 days of treatment initiation.
  • Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document.
  • Corticosteroids at doses equivalent to ≤4 mg of dexamethasone daily or equivalent for symptom control are acceptable. This should be minimized when possible.
  • If the disease has progressed on current treatment before consent, patients may continue current systemic cancer therapies by PI discretion see Section 7.7.5 (Systemic Therapies Allowed) and Section 5.2, 1 and 2 (Exclusion Criteria).
  • Patients with systemic disease are eligible and will be managed as detailed in Section 7.7.5.
  • Pregnancy test: negative serum or urine pregnancy test at screening for women of childbearing potential. Must be repeated once a month during treatment.
  • Contraception: Highly effective contraception for both male and female subjects throughout the study, and for the following specified durations after the last treatment administration as follows: highly effective contraception must be used by males for at least 90 days after the last treatment administration, if the risk of conception exists, to cover the spermatogenesis Cycle, and at least 5 months after the last dose of nivolumab or 7 months after the last dose of trastuzumab for females.
  • The patient has an Ommaya reservoir or equivalent device that allows routine access to CSF and administration of DC1s.
  • Patient must be able to tolerate MRIs of brain with contrast for routine disease assessments.

Exclusion criteria

  • Receiving other treatments specifically administered to treat LMD within the last 2 weeks or 5 half-lives of the agent, whichever is less. However, all other treatments to control systemic disease or bulk CNS disease will be eligible, provided the therapy is not a Phase I agent, an agent that significantly and unequivocally penetrates the CSF (eg, high-dose methotrexate, thiotepa, high-dose ara-C) by PI discretion. H & P section: Patients may continue on IV trastuzumab, fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki, pertuzumab, tucatinib, or other HER2-directed, hormonal, or other therapeutic agents if controlling systemic disease and leptomeningeal metastases developed while on these therapies. In addition, at time of systemic progression, patients may start additional agents at the discretion of the treating physician according to criteria in Section 6.7.1. and not start on new systemic therapies until LMD disease assessment.
  • Use of any immunotherapy within the last 4 weeks.
  • Unable or unwilling to have a contrast-enhanced brain MRI.
  • Known additional malignancy that is progressing or requires active treatment. Exceptions include basal cell carcinoma of the skin, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, or in situ cervical cancer that has undergone potentially curative therapy.
  • Has an active infection requiring systemic therapy which in the investigator's opinion will increase the risk to the patient.
  • Had major surgical procedure, or significant traumatic injury within 2 weeks. Ommaya placement is allowed.
  • Patients with shunts are excluded from the study (including but not limited to ventriculoperitoneal and ventriculoatrial shunts).
  • History of an intracranial thrombosis or thrombi extending up to the skull base. The choice of modality is at the investigator or provider's discretion.
  • Has a history of current evidence of any condition, therapy, or laboratory abnormality that might confound the results of the trial, interfere with the subject's participation for the full duration of the trial, or is not in the best interest of the subject to participate, in the opinion of the treating investigator.
  • Has known psychiatric or substance abuse disorders that would interfere with cooperation with the requirements of the trial.
  • Is pregnant or breastfeeding or expecting to conceive or father children within the projected duration of the trial, starting with the pre-screening or screening visit through 90 days after the last dose of trial treatment.
  • Has a known history of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (HIV 1, 2 antibodies). Testing is not mandatory.
  • Has known active or chronic hepatitis B (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV). Testing is not mandatory.
  • ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION: Prior organ transplantation including allogenic stem-cell transplantation.
  • Other severe acute or chronic medical conditions or psychiatric conditions including recent (within the past year) or active suicidal ideation or behavior; or laboratory abnormalities that may increase the risk associated with study participation or study treatment administration or may interfere with the interpretation of study results and, in the judgment of the investigator, would make the patient inappropriate for entry into this study.
  • Has received a live vaccine within 30 days before the first dose of study drug. Examples of live vaccines include, but are not limited to, the following: measles, mumps, rubella, varicella/zoster (chicken pox), yellow fever, rabies, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), and typhoid vaccine. Seasonal influenza vaccines for injection are generally killed virus vaccines and are allowed; however, intranasal influenza vaccines (eg, FluMist) are live attenuated vaccines and are not allowed. Current COVID vaccines are not live vaccines.

Treatment and study plan

cDC1 Vaccine

Biological

Autologous peptide-pulsed cDC1 vaccine administered intrathecally.

Other names: Dendritic Cell Vaccine

Trastuzumab

Drug

150 mg intrathecal weekly for HER2-positive participants.

Nivolumab

Drug

50 mg intrathecal every 2 weeks for HER2-negative participants.

Primary outcomes

  1. Safety Run-In: Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD)

    Time frame: Up to 28 days

    MTD of IT cDC1s combined with IT trastuzumab for HER2+ patients or with IT nivolumab for HER2- patients.

  2. Phase 2: Median Overall Survival

    Time frame: Up to 1 year

    Median survival from initiation of study treatment.

  3. Phase 2: One-Year Survival Rate

    Time frame: Up to 1 year

    Proportion of participants alive at one year after treatment initiation.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Progression Free Survival (PFS)

    Time frame: Up to 1 year

    Progression-free survival is defined as the time from first study treatment (Cycle 1 Day 1) until documented disease progression or death from any cause, whichever occurs first.

  2. Objective Response Rate (ORR)

    Time frame: Up to 1 Year

    The proportion of participants achieving an objective response during study treatment. Response in leptomeningeal/CNS disease will be assessed using Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology Leptomeningeal Metastases (RANO-LM) criteria, and response in non-CNS/systemic disease will be assessed using RECIST version 1.1 criteria.

Study contacts

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

Julianne Hardesty

CONTACT

[email protected]

813-745-4098

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute

Other

Collaborators

  • United States Department of Defense

Registry information

Official study title

Phase 2 Trial With a Safety Run-in of Combinatorial Therapies With Intrathecal (IT) Dendritic Cell Vaccines (cDC1s) inHER+ (Combined With IT Trastuzumab) and HER2- (Combined With IT Nivolumab) Breast Cancer (BC) Leptomeningeal Disease (LMD)

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2029
Study completion
2030
First posted
Jul 10, 2026
Registry last updated
Jul 10, 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.

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