Abstract P1-19-24: A phase Ib trial of copanlisib in combination with trastuzumab in pretreated recurrent or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer “PantHER”
Authors: Keegan Niamh M , Furney Simon , Walshe Janice , Gullo Giuseppe , Kennedy John , Bulger Kyran , McCaffrey John , Kelly Catherine M , Egan Keith , O'Donovan P , Hernando Andres , Teiserskiene Ausra , Parker Imelda , Farrelly Angela M , Carr Aoife , Calzaferri Giulio , McDermott Ray , Keane Maccon M , Grogan Liam , Breathnach Oscar S , Morris Patrick G , Toomey Sinead , Hennessy Bryan T 
Published: March 2020

Background Activation of the phosphoinositide -3 kinase (PI3K) pathway is a resistance mechanism to anti-HER2 targeted therapy. This trial was conducted to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of copanlisib, an oral pan-class I PI3K inhibitor, combined with trastuzumab for patients with advanced HER2 positive breast cancer resistant to anti-HER2 therapy. Patients and Methods In this phase Ib open label dose escalation study, using a 6 + 6 design, patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer who had disease progression following at least one prior line of HER2 therapy in the metastatic setting were treated with a dose escalation schedule of copanlisib (dose level 1 =45mg or dose level 2 = 60mg) IV on days 1, 8 and 15 of a 28 day cycle along with a fixed dose of trastuzumab 2mg/kg weekly after a loading dose of 4mg/kg in cycle 1. Archival tumour tissue, voluntary serial tumour biopsies and serial plasma samples were collected for genomic sequencing. Results Twelve patients were enrolled. MTD was determined as copanlisib 60mg plus trastuzumab 2mg/kg weekly. There was no dose limiting toxicity. The most common treatment-related adverse events (AE) of any grade experienced in more than 2 patients were hyperglycemia (58%), fatigue (58%), nausea (58%) and hypertension (50%). Confirmed stable disease at 16 weeks was observed in 6 (50%) participants. PIK3CA mutations were detected in archival tumour tissue of 6 (50%) patients and did not appear to influence likelihood of clinical benefit. PIK3CA mutations were detected in serial plasma ctDNA of all 12 patients and fluctuated over the course of treatment. Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) analysis identified novel somatic mutations in the TTRAP gene, which encodes a PI3K-like protein kinase, detected only in tumour samples obtained at metastatic time points. Additionally, NGS analysis demonstrated clear temporal genomic heterogeneity with decreasing PIK3CA mutation variant allele frequency (VAF) post therapy Conclusions The combination of copanlisib and trastuzumab was safely administered with good overall tolerability in this trial. Preliminary anti-tumour stability was observed in patients with heavily pre-treated metastatic HER2 positive breast cancer. Translational studies identified a number of potential biomarkers for further study in the now initiated phase 2 clinical trial.

Citation Format: Niamh M Keegan, Simon Furney, Janice Walshe, Giuseppe Gullo, John Kennedy, Kyran Bulger, John McCaffrey, Catherine M Kelly, Keith Egan, P O'Donovan, Andres Hernando, Ausra Teiserskiene, Imelda Parker, Angela M Farrelly, Aoife Carr, Giulio Calzaferri, Ray McDermott, Maccon M Keane, Liam Grogan, Oscar S Breathnach, Patrick G Morris, Sinead Toomey, Bryan T Hennessy. A phase Ib trial of copanlisib in combination with trastuzumab in pretreated recurrent or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer “PantHER” [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-19-24.