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CompletedNCT02536742PYTHIAUpdated Aug 26, 2026Results posted

Palbociclib in Molecularly Characterized ER-positive/HER2-negative Metastatic Breast Cancer

A Phase 2 interventional study of Palbociclib and Fulvestrant in Metastatic Breast Cancer, sponsored by ETOP IBCSG Partners Foundation. Completed at 19 sites in 3 countries. Open to female participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-26.

Sponsored by ETOP IBCSG Partners Foundation · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
124
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
Female
01

Study summary

This international, multicenter, prospective single arm Phase II biomarker discovery clinical trial with the primary objective of assessing the association of PFS with gene mutations, gene copy number aberrations and gene signatures in post-menopausal women with hormone receptor positive, HER2-negative metastatic or locally relapsed breast cancer whose disease has progressed after prior adjuvant endocrine therapy or one line systemic treatment, i.e., endocrine treatment or chemotherapy, administered for metastatic disease.

Read the detailed description

Patients will be treated with the combination of palbociclib and fulvestrant. The primary objective is to assess the association of the primary endpoint progression-free survival (PFS) with potential markers.

The trial is included in the AURORA program conducted by the Breast International Group (BIG), an international study aiming to collect and characterize biological samples, including metastatic tissue, from patients with advanced breast cancer.

The primary aim of the PYTHIA study is to discover potentially innovative biomarkers for the selection of patients to Palbociclib/Fulvestrant treatment. The strength of the trial lies in its conduct in conjunction with the AURORA study, which systematically evaluates a panel of biomarkers in tissue and blood, in a certified central lab. Stemming from this association, an abundance of molecular profiling information will become available for different biological samples. Additional molecular and functional imaging assessments performed within the context of the PYTHIA study increase its scientific merit, since it will represent a prospective, systematic effort to identify biomarkers for patient stratification, integrating several molecular profiling assessments.

02

Conditions studied

  • Metastatic Breast Cancer

Keywords

  • Breast Cancer
  • Metastatic
  • HER2 negative
  • Palbociclib
03

In context

Breast Neoplasms

12,544 studies on the registry are indexed under Breast Neoplasms; 2,892 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 124 is above the median of 72 across 9,303 interventional studies indexed under Breast Neoplasms.

Browse Breast Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

ETOP IBCSG Partners Foundation is the lead sponsor of 50 studies on the registry; 5 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
Female
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Female gender
  • Age ≥ 18 years
  • Postmenopausal, defined as women with:

    • Prior bilateral surgical oophorectomy; or
    • Amenorrhea and age ≥ 60 years; or
    • Age \< 60 years and amenorrhea for 12 or more consecutive months in the absence of alternative pathological or physiological cause and FSH and serum estradiol levels within the laboratory's reference ranges for postmenopausal women.
  • Endocrine resistant disease, defined as one of:

    • Relapse while on adjuvant endocrine therapy;
    • Relapse within 12 months after completion of adjuvant endocrine therapy;
    • Progression of disease under first line endocrine therapy for metastatic and/or loco-regionally advanced breast cancer.

Note: Patient may have received one prior chemotherapy for advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

  • ER positive tumor and HER2-negative tumor, as assessed locally
  • ECOG Performance Status 0-1.
  • Measurable or non-measurable but evaluable disease according to RECIST 1.1.
  • Written Informed Consent (IC) for screening procedures.
  • Written informed consent to participate in the AURORA program of BIG.
  • The patient has been informed of and agrees to data transfer and handling, in accordance with national data protection guidelines.
  • Life expectancy >3 months.
  • Hematological status:

    • Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1.5 × 109/L
    • Platelet count ≥ 100 × 109/L
    • Hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL
  • Hepatic status:

    • Serum total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 × upper limit of normal (ULN).
    • AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 × ULN; if the patient has liver metastases, ALT and AST must be ≤ 5 × ULN.
  • Glucose in normal range, or well-controlled diabetes defined as an HbA1c level ≤ 7.5%.
  • Renal status:

    - Creatinine ≤ 1.5 ×ULN or creatinine clearance > 60 ml/min.

  • International Normalized Ratio (INR) or Prothrombin Time (PT) ≤1.5 × ULN unless patient is receiving anticoagulant therapy as long as PT or PTT is within therapeutic range of intended use of anticoagulant.
  • Ability to swallow oral medication.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Prior use of fulvestrant or any CDK inhibitor.
  • More than one prior line of chemotherapy for metastatic or locally relapsed disease.
  • Previous or current non-breast malignancies within the last 5 years, with the exception of in situ carcinoma of the cervix, and adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin.
  • Known active uncontrolled or symptomatic CNS metastases, carcinomatous meningitis or leptomeningeal disease as indicated by clinical symptoms, cerebral edema, and/or progressive growth.
  • Any of the following in the previous 6 months: myocardial infarction, severe/unstable angina pectoris, ongoing cardiac dysrhythmias of NCI CTCAE grade ≥2, atrial fibrillation of any grade, coronary/peripheral artery bypass graft, symptomatic congestive heart failure (NYHA functional classification ≥3), cerebrovascular accident including transient ischemic attack, or symptomatic pulmonary embolism.
  • QTc exceeding 480msec, family or personal history of long or short QT syndrome, Brugada syndrome or known history of QTc prolongation, or Torsade de Pointes (TdP).
  • Uncontrolled electrolyte disorders that can reinforce the QT-prolonging effect of the drug (e.g., hypocalcemia, hypokalemia, hypomag¬nesemia).
  • Known history of HIV seropositivity. HIV screening is not required at baseline.
  • Uncontrolled diabetes defined as HbA1c level > 7.5%.
  • Concurrent disease or familial, sociological or geographical condition that would make the patient inappropriate for trial participation or any serious medical disorder that would interfere with the patient's safety.
  • Dementia, altered mental status, or any psychiatric condition that would prevent the understanding or rendering of Informed Consent.
  • Known abnormalities in coagulation such as bleeding diathesis, or treatment with anticoagulants precluding intramuscular injections of fulvestrant.
  • Treatment with an investigational agent in the 4 weeks before enrollment.
  • Concurrent treatment with any of the drugs not permitted
  • Adverse events (except alopecia) from previous systemic cancer therapy, radiotherapy or surgery have not recovered to CTCAE v4.0 grade 1 or resolved prior to enrollment.
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
124 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Experimental

    Palbociclib plus Fulvestrant

    Drug: Palbociclib · Drug: Fulvestrant

Interventions

  • DrugPalbociclib

    125 mg, orally, daily for 3 weeks followed by 1 week off; repeated at every 28 days cycle until progression, lack of tolerability, or patient declines further protocol treatment.

    Also known as: PD-0332991, Ibrance

  • DrugFulvestrant

    500mg, intramuscularly on days 1 and 15 of cycle 1, then on day 1 (+/- 3 days) of every 28 days cycle until progression, lack of tolerability, or patient declines further protocol treatment.

    Also known as: Faslodex

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Number of Participants With and Without Progression Free Survival (PFS) Events

    Time from treatment initiation until documented disease progression according to RECIST 1.1 or death, whichever occurs first

    Time frame: Maximum 36 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Best Overall Response

    Best overall response is based on RECIST (Response evaluation criteria in solid tumors) 1.1 criteria and is defined as best response recorded from enrollment across all time points until disease progression. Confirmation of partial response (PR) or complete response (CR) by an additional scan was not requested in this trial (rationale: initially because of randomized placebo-controlled design; subsequently because no hypothesis testing of progression-free survival, PFS, distribution relative to an historical control).

    Time frame: From date of enrolment until patient's end of treatment visit (or a maximum of 12 months after EoT in the absence of tumor progression), assessed up to 48 months.

  2. Best Overall Response of Complete Response (CR) or Partial Response (PR) or Stable Disease (SD)

    Disease control is defined as best overall response of complete response (CR) or partial response (PR), or stable disease (SD) (or non-CR/non-PD, progressive disease, in the case of non-measurable disease only) lasting for at least 24 weeks, measured from enrollment until first documentation of progressive disease

    Time frame: From date of enrolment until patient's end of treatment visit (or a maximum of 12 months after EoT in the absence of tumor progression), assessed up to 48 months.

07

Results

Posted Feb 26, 2024

Participant flow

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestoneExperimental
Started124
Completed122
Not completed2
Withdrew: Did not start protocol therapy1
Withdrew: Patient determined to have triple-negative breast cancer, thus not having the target disease1

Outcome measures

PrimaryNumber of Participants With and Without Progression Free Survival (PFS) Events

Time from treatment initiation until documented disease progression according to RECIST 1.1 or death, whichever occurs first

Time frame:
Maximum 36 months
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Number of Participants With and Without Progression Free Survival (PFS) Events
ParticipantsExperimental
PFS event, Yes92
PFS event, No30
SecondaryBest Overall Response

Best overall response is based on RECIST (Response evaluation criteria in solid tumors) 1.1 criteria and is defined as best response recorded from enrollment across all time points until disease progression. Confirmation of partial response (PR) or complete response (CR) by an additional scan was not requested in this trial (rationale: initially because of randomized placebo-controlled design; subsequently because no hypothesis testing of progression-free survival, PFS, distribution relative to an historical control).

Time frame:
From date of enrolment until patient's end of treatment visit (or a maximum of 12 months after EoT in the absence of tumor progression), assessed up to 48 months.
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Best Overall Response
ParticipantsExperimental
Complete response (CR)6
Partial response (PR)20
Stable disease (SD)80
Progressive disease (PD)16
SecondaryBest Overall Response of Complete Response (CR) or Partial Response (PR) or Stable Disease (SD)

Disease control is defined as best overall response of complete response (CR) or partial response (PR), or stable disease (SD) (or non-CR/non-PD, progressive disease, in the case of non-measurable disease only) lasting for at least 24 weeks, measured from enrollment until first documentation of progressive disease

Time frame:
From date of enrolment until patient's end of treatment visit (or a maximum of 12 months after EoT in the absence of tumor progression), assessed up to 48 months.
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Best Overall Response of Complete Response (CR) or Partial Response (PR) or Stable Disease (SD)
ParticipantsExperimental
Disease control not observed33
Disease control observed (CR or PR or SD)89

Adverse events

Collected over Maximum 36 months. Non-serious events are listed at a 0% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Experimental30/122 (24.6%)89/122 (73%)0/122 (0%)
Most frequent serious events
Most frequent serious events
EventExperimental
Neutrophil count decreaseInvestigations87/122
AnemiaGastrointestinal disorders2/122

Baseline characteristics

Postmenopausal patients with endocrine-resistant metastatic or locally relapsed ER+/HER2- breast cancer not amenable to treatment with a curative intent.

Age, Customized
Age, Customized(Participants)Experimental
<40 years2
40-49 years15
50-59 years37
60-69 years42
70-79 years23
80+ years3
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)Experimental
Female122
Male0
Race and Ethnicity Not Collected
Race and Ethnicity Not Collected(Participants)Experimental
Region of Enrollment
Region of Enrollment(participants)Experimental
Belgium73
Italy46
United Kingdom3
08

Study locations

19 sites
  • Sint-Augustinus
    Antwerp, 2610, Belgium
  • Institut Jules Bodet
    Brussels, 1000, Belgium
  • Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc
    Brussels, 1200, Belgium
  • Antwerp University Hospital
    Edegem, 2650, Belgium
  • UZ Leuven
    Leuven, Belgium
  • CHU Liege
    Liège, Belgium
  • Clinique St. Elizabeth
    Namur, 5000, Belgium
  • Ospedali degli Infermi, S.O.C. Oncologia
    Biella, 13879, Italy
  • Ospedale Centrale Bolzano, Medical Oncology
    Bolzano, Italy
  • IRCCS San Martino University Hospital
    Genova, Italy
  • Mater Salutis Hospital AULSS 21 della Regione Veneto
    Legnago, Italy
  • Istituto Europeo di Oncologia
    Milan, Italy
  • Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri, Medical Oncology Unit
    Pavia, 27100, Italy
  • Azienda USL4 Prato
    Prato, Italy
  • Velindre NHS Trust
    Cardiff, United Kingdom
  • Western General Hospital
    Edinburgh, United Kingdom
  • Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre
    Glasgow, United Kingdom
  • Singleton Hospital
    Swansea, United Kingdom
  • Royal Cornwall
    Truro, United Kingdom
09

References and documents

Publications

  • Mittendorf EA, Liu Y, Tucker SL, McKenzie T, Qiao N, Akli S, Biernacka A, Liu Y, Meijer L, Keyomarsi K, Hunt KK. A novel interaction between HER2/neu and cyclin E in breast cancer. Oncogene. 2010 Jul 8;29(27):3896-907. doi: 10.1038/onc.2010.151. Epub 2010 May 10. PubMed 20453888 ↗
  • Finn RS, Crown JP, Lang I, Boer K, Bondarenko IM, Kulyk SO, Ettl J, Patel R, Pinter T, Schmidt M, Shparyk Y, Thummala AR, Voytko NL, Fowst C, Huang X, Kim ST, Randolph S, Slamon DJ. The cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor palbociclib in combination with letrozole versus letrozole alone as first-line treatment of oestrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative, advanced breast cancer (PALOMA-1/TRIO-18): a randomised phase 2 study. Lancet Oncol. 2015 Jan;16(1):25-35. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(14)71159-3. Epub 2014 Dec 16. PubMed 25524798 ↗
  • Turner NC, Ro J, Andre F, Loi S, Verma S, Iwata H, Harbeck N, Loibl S, Huang Bartlett C, Zhang K, Giorgetti C, Randolph S, Koehler M, Cristofanilli M; PALOMA3 Study Group. Palbociclib in Hormone-Receptor-Positive Advanced Breast Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2015 Jul 16;373(3):209-19. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1505270. Epub 2015 Jun 1. PubMed 26030518 ↗
  • Di Leo A, Malorni L. Polyendocrine treatment in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer: a "FACT" yet to be proven. J Clin Oncol. 2012 Jun 1;30(16):1897-900. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2012.41.7394. Epub 2012 Apr 30. No abstract available. PubMed 22547606 ↗
  • Malorni L, Tyekucheva S, Hilbers FS, Ignatiadis M, Neven P, Colleoni M, Henry S, Ballestrero A, Bonetti A, Jerusalem G, Papadimitriou K, Bernardo A, Seles E, Duhoux FP, MacPherson IR, Thomson A, Davies DM, Bergqvist M, Migliaccio I, Gebhart G, Zoppoli G, Bliss JM, Benelli M, McCartney A, Kammler R, De Swert H, Ruepp B, Fumagalli D, Maibach R, Cameron D, Loi S, Piccart M, Regan MM; International Breast Cancer Study Group; Breast International Group and PYTHIA Collaborators. Serum thymidine kinase activity in patients with hormone receptor-positive and HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer treated with palbociclib and fulvestrant. Eur J Cancer. 2022 Mar;164:39-51. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2021.12.030. Epub 2022 Feb 13. PubMed 35172272 ↗

Related links

Study documents

  • Study protocol · Jan 26, 2017
  • Statistical analysis plan · Jan 7, 2020

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

10

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 26, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
11

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02536742
Lead sponsor
ETOP IBCSG Partners Foundation
Collaborators
Breast International Group
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Sep 1, 2015
Start date
Aug 30, 2016
Primary completion
Aug 28, 2020
Completion
Dec 22, 2022
Results posted
Feb 26, 2024
Last update
Aug 26, 2026

Study contacts

Luca Malorni, MD PhD
study chair · USL4 Hospital of Prato, Italy

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

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