At a glance
- What the study gets you
- Access to the study treatment being tested
- Type of study
- Interventional (receives a drug or procedure)
- Time in hospital
- In-person visits at study sites — visit count not specified by the sponsor
- Drug or intervention
- Palbociclib (drug), Avelumab (drug)
- How long the study runs
- Study runs about 83 months (dates as stated)
- About the drug or intervention
- Palbociclib — drug: Highly selective oral inhibitor of CDK4 and CDK6. · Avelumab — drug: Fully human IgG1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) binds to the PD-L1 cell surface ligand and blocks its interaction with the PD-1 cell surface receptor.
- Patient visit burden
- Not specified by the sponsor
In plain English
This trial is testing two drugs, palbociclib (a tablet) and avelumab (given by drip into a vein), in people with breast cancer that has spread or come back and cannot be removed by surgery. Palbociclib blocks proteins called CDK4/6 that help cancer cells grow, and avelumab is an immunotherapy that helps the immune system attack cancer. The trial has two parts: Part A includes several types of breast cancer, while Part B is only for triple negative breast cancer that is androgen receptor positive (AR+), which is checked on old tumour tissue. The sponsor is the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.
Who can take part
- Adults aged 18 or over with breast cancer that has come back or spread (locally advanced that cannot be operated on, or metastatic) and cannot be cured by surgery.
- Have had at least one but no more than two courses of chemotherapy for advanced disease. People with ER+ breast cancer must have had at least one course of hormone therapy; people with HER2-positive breast cancer must have had at least one course of HER2-targeted treatment.
- Have cancer that can be measured on scans (RECIST 1.1). For Part B, the cancer must also be in a place where a new biopsy (small sample of the tumour) can be taken.
- For Part B: triple negative breast cancer that is androgen receptor positive (AR+). This is checked centrally on stored tumour tissue. If no stored tissue from the spread is available, tissue from the original breast tumour may be used if it was collected within 5 years before the cancer spread and was ER and PgR negative.
- Blood and other body test results within the ranges set out in the study plan, checked within one week before joining.
- Able to carry out normal activities with little or no restriction (WHO performance status 0 or 1) and an expected life span of at least 3 months, in the doctor's opinion.
- Willing and able to give written informed consent and to attend study visits, treatment, tests and follow-up.
- For Part B: willing to have a new tumour biopsy at the start of the study.
- If able to become pregnant, a negative pregnancy test within 7 days before starting, and both patients and male partners must use a very reliable method of contraception — starting 2 weeks before treatment, during treatment, and for 1 month after stopping (women) or 14 weeks after (men).
Who may not be able to
- Recent chemotherapy: oral chemotherapy in the past 2 weeks, weekly chemotherapy into a vein in the past 3 weeks, or any other chemotherapy or experimental drug in the past 4 weeks.
- Hormone therapy in the past 7 days (except certain ovarian-suppressing injections, and bone-strengthening drugs like bisphosphonates or RANK ligand antagonists are allowed).
- Previous treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors or immune-stimulating drugs for advanced disease (though people who had pembrolizumab earlier for early-stage breast cancer may join if it finished at least 6 months before the cancer came back).
- Previous treatment with palbociclib or any CDK4/6-blocking drug (though people who had abemaciclib or ribociclib after early breast cancer surgery may join if it finished at least 12 months before the cancer came back).
- Major surgery in the past 4 weeks or radiotherapy in the past 14 days.
- Brain metastases causing symptoms needing steroids, untreated brain metastases, disease in the lining of the brain or spinal cord, or spinal cord compression.
- An infection needing treatment at the time of joining.
- Serious heart problems in the past 12 months (heart attack, myocarditis, uncontrolled angina, bypass surgery, symptomatic heart failure, stroke, or mini-stroke), or uncontrolled high blood pressure or irregular heartbeat such as atrial fibrillation.
- An active autoimmune disease that could get worse with immunotherapy (some conditions like type 1 diabetes, vitiligo, psoriasis, or thyroid problems not needing immunosuppressants are allowed).
- Taking immunosuppressive medicines, with some exceptions such as steroid creams, inhalers, nose sprays, joint injections, or low-dose steroid tablets (10 mg prednisone a day or less).
- Other serious ongoing illnesses, such as colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, pneumonitis (even if better now), lung fibrosis, kidney failure on dialysis, or mental health conditions including recent or current suicidal thoughts.
- Taking warfarin or direct-acting blood-thinning tablets (people needing blood thinners may be switched to heparin injections).
- HIV, AIDS-related illness, or hepatitis B or C showing active infection.
- Severe allergic reactions to monoclonal antibodies, any history of anaphylaxis, or uncontrolled asthma.
- Unable or unwilling to swallow tablets or receive injections into a vein.
- Ongoing side effects from previous treatment worse than mild (except stable numbness/tingling in hands or feet, or hair loss).
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding.
- Another cancer diagnosed in the past 3 years, apart from previous breast cancer, treated skin cancers, pre-cancer of the cervix, or low-grade prostate cancer.
- Taking part in another trial testing a treatment at the same time (taking part in a purely observational study is fine).
- Known allergy to the study drugs or their ingredients; the tablet contains lactose, so people with rare inherited galactose intolerance, Lapp lactase deficiency, or glucose-galactose malabsorption cannot take it.
- Live vaccines within 4 weeks before starting avelumab and during the trial (and for 3 months after the last dose); inactivated vaccines are allowed.
- Psychiatric conditions that prevent understanding or giving informed consent.
- Needing to keep taking St John's Wort, or medicines that strongly affect the CYP3A liver enzyme.
- Any other condition that, in the doctor's view, makes taking part unsuitable.
What taking part involves
- • Palbociclib, taken as a tablet by mouth.
- • Avelumab, an immunotherapy given as a drip into a vein (an intravenous infusion).
- • For Part B, a fresh tumour biopsy (a small sample of the cancer) taken at the start of the study.
- • Blood tests and other checks within one week before starting treatment, plus regular study visits, scans and follow-up.
Time commitment: Not stated — ask the trial team. The data shows you would need blood tests before joining, attend regular scheduled visits for treatment and tests, and (in Part B) have a new tumour biopsy.
Plain-English summary (AI-generated) from registry data. Not eligibility advice — only the trial team can confirm whether you can take part. Use the eligibility checker to see how your health profile matches this trial.
- Type of study
- Testing a treatment
- Ages
- 18 Years and over
- Who
- All
- Number of participants
- 45
- Started
- 2020-08-11
- Last checked
- 2026-08
Plain English Summary
What is this study?
- • Testing a new treatment for triple negative breast cancer
- • Phase1 - 45 participants
- • This clinical study is aiming to determine the safest doses and schedule for the combination of two drugs named palbociclib and avelumab
Who can take part?
- • Ages 18 Years and over
- • Diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer
Where?
- • Manchester - The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
- • Cambridge - Addenbrooke's Hospital Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- • Glasgow - Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre
- • Leicester - Hope Clinical Trials Cancer Centre
- • +5 more UK sites
This is a simplified summary. Always discuss with your doctor before making any decisions.
About This Trial
This clinical study is aiming to determine the safest doses and schedule for the combination of two drugs named palbociclib and avelumab. The study will also be investigating how effective the combination is for a subgroup of breast cancer patients whose cancer expresses the androgen receptor (AR) but not the oestrogen (hormone) or HER2 receptors. Palbociclib is a drug used in routine care for hormone-receptor (HR) positive and HER2 negative advanced breast cancer, the most common subtype of breast cancer. It is possible that the combination of palbociclib and avelumab will be a more effective cancer treatment than each drug separately, but this is unknown and this study is needed to establish the best dosage and schedule of each drug as well as how effective the combination is.
More detail
This is a phase Ib study designed to confirm the safety and evaluate the efficacy of palbociclib combined with avelumab in AR positive TNBC. It is a multi-centre study design (it will run at several hospitals in the UK). Palbociclib inhibits two proteins involved in cell growth called cyclin dependent kinase 4 and cyclin dependent kinase 6 (CDK4/6). Inhibiting CDK4/6 stops cells, such as cancer cells, from dividing and multiplying further. Palbociclib is currently approved for the treatment of metastatic HR positive HER2 negative breast cancer, based on good results from large clinical trials. Laboratory studies have shown that palbociclib might be also useful in some patients with triple negative breast cancer, an aggressive subtype of breast cancer that does not express the hormone receptors or HER2 receptor, but only if the cancer is positive for the androgen-receptor (AR). Avelumab is an immunotherapy drug which does not destroy cancer cells, but tries to stimulate the body's immune system to do this. Avelumab has been tested in a number of different types of tumours including breast cancer, but although approved for use in the USA, it is not currently an approved standard treatment in the UK. The combination of both drugs has never been tested in humans before. Recruitment to Part A will be conducted only at the Royal Marsden Hospital and Part A of the study will establish the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and optimal schedule of the combination in any suitable patients with advanced breast cancer. Once this dose schedule has been confirmed, the chosen dose level will be recruited to, aiming to include 27 patients with AR positive TNBC (Part B).Part B will recruit at up to 8 high volume centres. The androgen receptor is not routinely tested for in hospital laboratories, so patients with advanced triple negative breast cancer who are interested in taking part in the study will be asked to provide consent for previously taken cancer samples/biopsies to be sent to the Royal Marsden for testing, to see if the cancer expresses the androgen receptor, which would make participants potentially eligible for part B of the study. Approximately 20% of triple negative breast cancers express AR. This phase of the study will include important translational work using new cancer samples (biopsies) and blood samples to investigate potential "biomarkers" -predictors of efficacy and resistance to the combination. In Part A of the study, patients with previously treated, advanced breast cancer will have an ECG (heart trace) a CT scan of the body and potentially an MRI scan of the brain and a bone scan (depending upon where the breast cancer is known to have spread to) as well as blood tests to determine if participants are suitable for the study. During the study participants will receive daily palbociclib tablets and intravenous infusions of avelumab every two weeks. Participants will be monitored with regular blood tests and repeat CT scans every 8 weeks. At whatever time point the treatment stops working, the patient will stop treatment and will be asked to have further blood tests one month later as well as a check up with the study doctor. In Part B of the study, patients with triple negative histology and positive androgen receptor status tested at the Royal Marsden will be required to have a cancer biopsy before participants start treatment on the study. LIke in Part A, participants will also have an ECG (heart trace)a CT scan of the body and potentially an MRI scan of the brain and a bone scan (depending upon where the breast cancer is known to have spread to) as well as blood tests to determine if participants are suitable for the study. During the study participants will receive daily palbociclib tablets and intravenous infusions of avelumab every two weeks. Participants will be monitored with regular blood tests and check-ups with the study doctor and repeat CT scans every 8 weeks as well as additional blood tests for research. After 3 weeks of treatment, the patient may have a further tumour biopsy, which is optional. At whatever timepoint the treatment stops working, the patient will stop treatment and will be asked to have further blood tests and a further biopsy. Participants will also have a check-up with the study doctor and blood tests one month later. A maximum of 45 breast cancer patients will be enrolled; up to 18 patients in part A and 27 patients with AR+ triple negative breast cancer in part B.
How this trial compares with your answers
Answer 2 more questions to improve match
What we know so far
Still need:
- • Tell us your age for better matching
- • Tell us your sex for better matching
Preliminary match based on your answers. Full eligibility requires on-site assessment including medical history, physical exam, and lab tests. This does not guarantee enrolment.
Eligibility at a Glance
Key info
- Age: 18 Years and over
- Who can join: All genders
Biomarkers mentioned
Treatment history
Treatments you must have had:
- ✓ received at least one prior line of hormone therapy for advanced disease
- ✓ of chemotherapy f
- ✓ a negative urine or serum pregnancy test within 7 days
- ✓ been ER/PgR negative and collected within 5 years
What the study is looking for
- ✓Inclusion Criteria Part A:
- ✓Patients with recurrent inoperable that has grown locally or that has spread breast cancer.
- ✓cancer that can be measured on scans ((standard scan measurements))
- ✓Haematological and biochemical indices within the ranges stated in the study protocol. These measurements must be...
- ✓Oral, intra-vaginal or transdermal combined hormonal contraception
See the full criteria
Where Is This Study? (9 UK sites)
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
Manchester M20 4BX, United Kingdom
Addenbrooke's Hospital Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridge CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom
Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre
Glasgow G12 0YN, United Kingdom
Hope Clinical Trials Cancer Centre
Leicester LE1 5WW, United Kingdom
Barts Cancer Institute
London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
London SW3 6JJ, United Kingdom
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
London W1T 7HA, United Kingdom
Rajinder Sidhu - Associate Director, Research Governance and Operations
uclh.jro-communications@nhs.net020 3447 9825Nottingham University Hospital
Nottingham NG5 1PB, United Kingdom
Weston Park Hospital
Sheffield S10 2SJ, United Kingdom
