Conditions: Breast Cancer
Keywords: recurrent breast cancer stage IV breast cancer
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 112
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
RATIONALE: Monoclonal antibodies, such as cetuximab, can block tumor growth in different ways. Some block the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Others find tumor cells and help kill them or carry tumor-killing substances to them. Cetuximab may also stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as carboplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. It is not yet known whether giving cetuximab together with carboplatin is more effective than giving cetuximab alone in treating metastatic breast cancer.

PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying cetuximab and carboplatin to see how well they work compared with cetuximab alone in treating women with estrogen receptor-negative (ER-), progesterone receptor-negative (PR-) metastatic breast cancer.

Detailed description:
OBJECTIVES:

Primary

* Compare the overall response rate in women with estrogen receptor-negative, progesterone receptor-negative, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-nonoverexpressing metastatic breast cancer treated with cetuximab with vs without carboplatin.

Secondary

* Compare the time to disease progression in patients treated with these regimens.
* Correlate downstream effects of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor on Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK), Protein kinase B (AKT), monoclonal antibody Ki-67 (Ki67), and EGFR-dependent signaling, proliferation, and apoptosis with toxicity and response in patients with accessible tumors treated with these regimens.
* Determine the changes in biomarkers and gene expression in circulating tumor cells during treatment.
* Compare the overall survival rate in patients treated with these regimens.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, multicenter study. Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.

* Arm I: Patients receive cetuximab IV over 60-120 minutes once a week.
* Arm II: Patients receive cetuximab as in arm I and carboplatin IV on days 1, 8, and 15.

In both arms, treatment repeats every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients not responding to treatment in arm I may cross over to arm II.

Blood samples are collected periodically throughout study for correlative biomarker analysis by Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and gene expression analysis.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 4 months.

Arms:
arm 1: Patients receive cetuximab IV over 60-120 minutes once a week. Treatment repeats every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients not responding to treatment may cross over to arm II. arm 2: Patients receive cetuximab as in arm I and carboplatin IV on days 1, 8, and 15. Treatment repeats every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Interventions: intervention 1: cetuximab intervention 2: carboplatin
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Given IV intervention 2: Given IV

Protocol document: