Triple Negative Breast Cancer, "I Won't Back Down!": A Phase II Trial of BKM120 in Patients With Triple Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer

What is TNBC

WHAT IS TRIPLE NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER?

Just in recent years, Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) has sparked interest in the news where instead of calling the tumor as ER-negative, PR-negative, and HER2-negative; researchers began using the shorthand term, "Triple Negative," dubbed the "new type" of breast cancer. Being Triple Negative, you don't have a targeted therapy and your only treatment option is chemotherapy.

Triple Negative Breast Cancer is seen in about 15% of all breast cancers. TNBC is a very aggressive cancer that tends to strike younger women, pre-menopause, especially among African-American women and women who have BRCA1 mutations. The tumor tends to be fast growing and is less likely to show up on an annual mammogram. TNBC is more likely to metastasis early on; has a high rate of recurrence in the first 2-3 years from diagnosis and has a poorer prognosis than other types of breast cancer due to lack of specific, targeted treatment for TNBC.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

A Phase II Trial of BKM120 in Patients With Triple Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer

A service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health

New clinical trial for TNBC to start recruiting February 2013
http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01790932
(Click to link)

Purpose

This research study is a Phase II clinical trial. Phase II clinical trials test the effectiveness of an investigational drug to learn whether the drug works in treating a specific cancer. "Investigational" means that the drug is still being studied and that research doctors are trying to find out more about it-such as the safest dose to use, the side effects it may cause, and if the drug is effective for treating different types of cancer. It also means that the FDA has not yet approved BKM120 for use in patients, including people with your type of cancer.

BKM120 is a drug that works by blocking a protein called PI3K which may contribute to cancer growth. This drug has been used in experiments in the laboratory and information from these research studies suggests that BKM120 may help to prevent cancer cells from growing.

In this research study, the investigators are looking to see if BKM120 works to stop breast cancer cells from growing.