Recruiting
Phase 1
Phase 2

TM & Capecitabine

Sponsor:

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

Code:

NCT06134375

Conditions

Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Residual Disease

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Tetrathiomolybdate

Capecitabine

Pembrolizumab

Study Details

Brief summary:

There are two parts to this study. It is a phase 1b followed by a randomized phase 2 study to assess whether adding 3 years of adjuvant tetrathiomolybdate (TM) to standard 6 months treatment of adjuvant capecitabine and pembrolizumab in high risk for relapse triple negative breast cancer.

In the phase 1b part of the study, TM is added to adjuvant capecitabine and pembrolizumab in high risk for relapse triple negative breast cancer (RCB 2, 3, risk for relapse >60% at 5 years) after completion of neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy and surgery to establish the safety of the combination. This will be followed by a randomized phase 2 clinical trial of adjuvant TM and capecitabine vs capecitabine alone.

If pembrolizumab was administered in the neoadjuvant setting, it may be continued in the adjuvant setting per investigator discretion.

Conditions

Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Residual Disease

Study ID

NCT06134375

Start date

Nov 26, 2024

Status verified date

Jan, 2026

Completion date

Jun 26, 2036

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jun 26, 2031

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patients must have histologically confirmed breast malignancy that is Triple negative tumors as defined as ER and PR <1% and HER2 negative as per ASCO/CAP guidelines
2. The patient must have completed standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy which constitutes at least 6 cycles of chemotherapy.
3. Phase Ib: Patients must have residual invasive carcinoma, at minimum in one of the following capacities: (1) node positive disease after treatment without residual invasive carcinoma in the breast; (2) RCB 2 or RCB 3 MDAH Calculator; Standard therapy consists of the following: (1) Local therapy: (a) Lumpectomy or mastectomy to negative margins. (b) Sentinel lymph node biopsy or axillary node dissection; (c) Radiation therapy to breast if patient received a lumpectomy and per investigator choice if considering chest wall/extended field RT. (2) Systemic therapy: Prior chemotherapy is required for patients entered on the trial. Neoadjuvant treatment should consist of the following standard therapy: Anthracycline and taxane-based therapy (i.e. AC->T, AC->Tcarbo, Keynote 522 regimen) or a non-anthracycline based chemo and immunotherapy regimen (NeoPACT). Patients must have received neoadjuvant Pembrolizumab for the phase Ib only and plan to continue it in the adjuvant setting for at least the first cycle of treatment.

Randomized Phase 2: Patients must have residual invasive carcinoma, at minimum in one of the following capacities: (1) node positive disease after treatment without residual invasive carcinoma in the breast; (2) RCB 2 or RCB 3 MDAH Calculator; Standard therapy consists of the following: (1) Local therapy: (a) Lumpectomy or mastectomy to negative margins. (b) Sentinel lymph node biopsy or axillary node dissection; (c) Radiation therapy to breast if patient received a lumpectomy and per investigator choice if considering chest wall/extended field RT. (2) Systemic therapy: Prior chemotherapy is required for patients entered on the trial. Neoadjuvant treatment should consist of the following standard therapy: Anthracycline and taxane-based therapy (i.e. AC->T, AC->Tcarbo, Keynote 522 regimen) or a non-anthracycline based chemo and immunotherapy regimen (NeoPACT). Pembrolizumab is allowed. Patients will be stratified by: (1) Treatment (chemotherapy vs chemotherapy + immunotherapy); (2) Age (Age ≤ 40 yrs vs > 40 yrs); and (3) RCB 2 vs RCB 3. These important stratification factors represent variables that are known to affect outcome for patients with TNBC.
4. At least two weeks must have elapsed from last chemotherapy or radiation therapy. At least 4 weeks must have elapsed from most recent surgery.
5. No clinical or radiologic evidence of disease after surgery and/or systemic treatment (by CT scan of chest, abdomen and pelvis and bone scan or PET scan prior to enrollment).
6. Previous treatment with capecitabine is not allowed.
7. Because no dosing or adverse event data are currently available on the use of TM in patients <18 years of age, children are excluded from this study.
8. KPS 90 or 100.
9. Life expectancy of greater than 3 months.
10. Patients must have normal organ and marrow function as defined below:

  • hemoglobin >10mg/dL
  • absolute neutrophil count >1,500/ µL
  • platelets >100,000/µL
  • total bilirubin <1.5 x normal institutional limits
  • AST (SGOT)/ALT (SGPT) <1.5 X institutional upper limit of normal
11. Antiresorptive therapy and denosumab may be administered.
12. Patients must be on stable medical therapy for at least 2 weeks if they are being treated medically for their chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy.
13. The effects of TM on the developing human fetus are unknown. For this reason, women of childbearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation. Should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately.
14. Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document.
15. Normal B12 levels.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 2 weeks prior to entering the study. Patients who have had surgery within 4 weeks.
2. Patients who have received capecitabine or who are on warfarin
3. Patients who had their final breast surgery more than 12 weeks prior to study start.
4. Phase Ib: patients who have not received neoadjuvant immunotherapy and/or do not plan to continue treatment with immunotherapy for at least the first cycle of study treatment.
5. Objective evidence of breast cancer.
6. Metastatic disease
7. Carcinomatous meningitis or active parenchymal brain metastases.
8. Estimated creatinine clearance < 60 ml/min
9. History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to TM or capecitabine.
10. Pregnant women are excluded from this study because TM has the potential to have teratogenic or abortifacient effects. Because there is an unknown but potential risk for adverse events in nursing infants secondary to treatment of the mother with TM, breastfeeding should be discontinued if the mother is treated with TM.
11. Because patients with immune deficiency are at increased risk of lethal infections when treated with marrow-suppressive therapy, HIV-positive patients receiving combination anti- retroviral therapy are excluded from the study because of possible pharmacokinetic interactions with TM.

Study Design

Enrollment

204 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: TM and Capecitabine with or without Pembrolizumab

Tetrathiomolybdate (TM) and Capecitabine +/- Pembrolizumab will be administered concurrently for 6 months, TM will continue for 2.5 more years (total duration of TM treatment is 3 years)

active comparator: Capecitabine with or without Pembrolizumab

Capecitabine +/- Pembrolizumab will be administered for 6 months (participants will remain on study for 2.5 more years).

Interventions

Tetrathiomolybdate

Tetrathiomolybdate (TM): Ammonium tetrathiomolybdate (TM), an oral copper lowering agent, has been established as safe in patients with Wilson's disease and advanced cancer. TM forms stable copper-molybdenum clusters sequestering copper and thereby limiting its availability, for the proper functioning of angiogenic factors, including secreted metalloenzymes. TM inhibits several copper containing enzymes including ceruloplasmin, cytochrome oxidase, tyrosinase and downregulates cytokines such as MMP9 and VEGF as well as transcription factors such as NF-kB. Both pre-clinical and clinical data suggest that TM may effectively reduce both overt and sub-clinical tumor load by both targeting the metastases initiating stem cell component of primary tumors inactivating Complex IV, shifting oxphos to glycolysis and through stromal remodeling.

Capecitabine

1000mg/m2 twice daily, Days 1-14 Q21days for 6 months

Pembrolizumab

If pembrolizumab was administered in the neoadjuvant setting and the oncology team chooses to continue in the adjuvant setting, standard doses will be used (200 mg IV Q3weeks or 400 mg IV Q6 weeks for one year total as per package insert)

Primary outcome measure

  • Phase 1b: To establish the safety of the combination of adjuvant tetrathiomolybdate with capecitabine and pembrolizumab by the number of dose limiting toxicities [ Time Frame: 3 years ]
  • Phase 2: Distant relapse-free survival (DRFS) between TM and capecitabine versus capecitabine as measured with the STEEP system [ Time Frame: 10 years ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Locations

Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Recruiting

Lebanon, New Hampshire, United States, 03756

Contacts

Principal Investigator:

Linda Vahdat, MD, MBA

NYU Langone perimutter Cancer Center

Recruiting

New York, New York, United States, 10016

Contacts

Principal Investigator:

Nancy Chen, MD

More Information

Sponsor

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

Last update posted

Apr 20, 2026

Last verified

Jan, 2026

Keywords

  • Triple Negative Breast cancer
  • Residual Disease

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center on 2026-04-20.