ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT03387553Updated Sep 23, 2026

HER2 Directed Dendritic Cell Vaccine During Neoadjuvant Therapy of HER2+Breast Cancer

An Early Phase 1 interventional study of Dendritic Cell Vaccine (DC1) and Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer, Breast Cancer Female and Breast Cancer, Male, sponsored by H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-23.

Primary conditionBreast Neoplasms, MaleRegistry: Breast NeoplasmsReclassifiedWhy we changed it
Registry
Breast Neoplasms — the first condition term the registry derived for this study.
ClinicalTrials.gg
Breast Neoplasms, Male
Why
  1. The study's listed conditions name Breast Neoplasms, Male, a narrower term within Breast Neoplasms.
Confidence
High: the new condition is named in the study's own listed conditions. Of 351 hand-checked studies reclassified this way, 68% were exactly right and 84% in the right disease family; the registry's first term was right for 5% (measured 2026-10-21). How we classify →
Wrong?
Tell us the study's main condition →

Sponsored by H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute · Early Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was Aug 2023, 3 years 2 months ago, and no results have been posted to the registry.

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Phase
Early Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
31
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Where this study stands

Counted across the records on this site · 2026-11-14

Among 234 studies in Breast Neoplasms, Male with a site in United States — 2 open to participants now, 9 under way, 4 of them phase 3. Breast Neoplasms, Male · United States.

Enrollment
110th of 207
31 · median 34
Started
2018
with 4 others
Phase 1
67 of 234
none open now
Registered
226th of 234
by date
Lead sponsor
7 of 234
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute

Among the 234 studies in Breast Neoplasms, Male with a site in United States, this one is the 110th largest by enrollment of the 207 interventional ones that give a count, is one of 5 that started in 2018, is one of 67 in phase 1, and was the 226th registered.

Breast Neoplasms, Male

286 studies on the registry are indexed under Breast Neoplasms, Male; 5 are open to participants now.

Browse Breast Neoplasms, Male studies →

Open to participants now

2 of the 234 studies in Breast Neoplasms, Male with a site in United States are open now. Recruiting first, the newest first:

All 2 open studies →

A study can be open while its sites in United States have not opened yet or have stopped. Only those recruiting at a site in United States →

Who these studies take

Of the 5 Breast Neoplasms, Male studies recruiting now, 5 set no upper age limit and none stop at 75 or younger; none take children under 18; 1 takes healthy volunteers.

This study: 18 Years and older · all sexes · no healthy volunteers.

The full table on the hub →

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Watch this landscapeDownload CSVNarrow it in search →With an account: a weekly mail of what changed among 234 studies in Breast Neoplasms, Male with a site in United States, or all of them as a file.
02

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to learn more about how to treat patients with HER-2/neu positive invasive breast cancer (IBC). HER-2/neu is a type of protein that is known to be over-expressed in aggressive breast cancer.

The study drug for this trial is DC1 study vaccine which is a HER2-sensitized dendritic cell (DC) study vaccine. This study vaccine is made from the participant's blood cells collected from a procedure called leukapheresis. Dendritic cells are immune cells that can tell the immune system to fight infection. In laboratory testing and from previous studies in participants, these cells may also help the immune system attack tumors such as breast cancer.

Read the detailed description

The trial will consist of two phases. The first lead in phase will enroll 12 participants evenly divided into two arms (alternating enrollment) with different initial priming study vaccination schedules.

Arm A: One DC1 study vaccination per week x 3 weeks. Arm B: Two DC1 study vaccinations per week (given 3 days apart for example Mon and Thurs or Tues and Friday) x 3 weeks.

Following accrual of this initial group of 12 participants, HER2 ELISPOT post study vaccination responses will be assessed to determine which of the two sequences provides the greater increase in anti HER2 response at week 4 over baseline. This will determine which sequence will be used in the second expansion phase of accrual. If both arms are determined equal then Arm A will be selected as the default sequence.

Second phase of accrual will consist of 14 additional participants to undergo study vaccination using the optimal schedule declared in the first phase of the trial. The trial will consist of two phases. The first lead in phase will enroll 12 participants evenly divided into two arms (alternating enrollment) with different initial priming study vaccination schedules.

Arm A: One DC1 study vaccination per week x 3 weeks Arm B: Two DC1 study vaccinations per week (given 3 days apart for example Mon and Thurs or Tues and Friday) x 3 weeks.

Following accrual of this initial group of 12 participants, HER2 ELISPOT post study vaccination responses will be assessed to determine which of the two sequences provides the greater increase in anti HER2 response at week 4 over baseline. This will determine which sequence will be used in the second expansion phase of accrual. If both arms are determined equal then Arm A will be selected as the default sequence.

Second phase of accrual will consist of 14 additional participants to undergo study vaccination using the optimal schedule declared in the first phase of the trial.

03

Conditions studied

  • Breast Cancer
  • Breast Cancer Female
  • Breast Cancer, Male
  • Invasive Breast Cancer
  • HER2-positive Breast Cancer
  • HER2 Positive Breast Carcinoma
  • Stage II Breast Cancer
  • Stage III Breast Cancer

Browse trials for

Keywords

  • Immunotherapy
  • Dendritic Cell Vaccine
  • DC1
04

In context

Breast Neoplasms, Male Reclassified

286 studies on the registry are indexed under Breast Neoplasms, Male; 5 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 31 is below the median of 37 across 230 interventional studies indexed under Breast Neoplasms, Male.

Browse Breast Neoplasms, Male studies →

Lead sponsor

H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute is the lead sponsor of 540 studies on the registry; 75 are open to participants now.

Of its 99 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 57 (58%) have results posted.

Compared within Breast Neoplasms, Male, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Breast Neoplasms. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →

05

Who can participate

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

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Participants must have confirmed clinical stage II or III ERPR- + (per CAP criteria) invasive carcinoma of the breast
  • Medically and surgically appropriate to undergo chemotherapy with TCH-P Taxotere (docetaxel), Carboplatin, Herceptin (trastuzumab), Perjeta (pertuzumab) regimen followed by standard of care local therapy as determined by their treating physician
  • Age ≥18 years.
  • (ECOG) performance status less than 2
  • Patients must have normal organ and marrow function as defined below:

    • leukocytes ≥3,000/μL
    • ≥1,500/μL
    • ≥100,000/μL
    • total within normal institutional limits
    • (SGOT)/ALT(SGPT) less than or equal to 2.5 X institutional
    • creatinine within normal institutional limits - OR -
    • ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m\^2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal
  • Cardiac within institutional normal limits by either MUGA or ECHO at baseline.
  • Women of and their male partners must agree to use adequate (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. Sexually active male participants should use a barrier method or exercise abstinence during chemotherapy administration until surgery.
  • Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written document.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with inflammatory breast cancer, widespread locally advanced unresectable disease involving the chest wall/nodal basins in which a curative surgical resection cannot be performed, or those in whom de novo disease is suspected or confirmed
  • May not be receiving any other agents for the treatment of their breast cancer.
  • History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to the study vaccine components and any of the chemotherapy drugs (docetaxel, carboplatin, trastuzumab, pertuzumab)
  • Unwilling or unable to undergo an apheresis for production of their vaccine
  • Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements.
  • Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding
  • Known congenital or acquired immune deficiency (including those patients who require systemic drugs for disease or organ transplant).
  • Pre-existing peripheral neuropathy that would limit treatment with taxanes and platinum agents
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(18)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Histologically or cytologically confirmed

The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).

Your pathology report is the document that shows this.

HER2

HER2 is a protein, made from the ERBB2 gene, that drives the growth of some cancers. A study may look for a level of the protein, extra copies of the gene, or a particular change in it.

In breast cancer, protein tests are read as HER2-positive, HER2-low or HER2-negative; other cancers use their own rules. Check which test result the study requires.

Adjuvant and neoadjuvant

Neoadjuvant treatment is given before the main treatment (usually surgery), often to shrink a tumour. Adjuvant treatment is given after it, to lower the chance of the cancer coming back.

ECOG performance status

A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.

0
Fully active, no restrictions.
1
Limited in strenuous activity, but walking and able to do light work, such as housework or office work.
2
Walking and able to look after yourself, but unable to work; up and about more than half of waking hours.
3
Able to look after yourself only in part; in bed or a chair more than half of waking hours.
4
Unable to look after yourself at all; in bed or a chair all day.

Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.

Absolute neutrophil count (ANC)

The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.

It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (µL). Each lab has its own reference range.

Platelets

Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.

Bilirubin

A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.

Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

ULN (upper limit of normal)

The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.

“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.

Creatinine clearance (CrCl)

How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.

LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction)

The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

Immunosuppression

A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.

Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.

Autoimmune disease

A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.

Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.

06

Study design

Phase
Early Phase 1
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
31 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Lead In Phase - Arm A

    Arm A: One Dendritic Cell Vaccine (DC1) per week x 3 weeks.

    Biological: Dendritic Cell Vaccine (DC1) · Drug: Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy · Procedure: Curative Surgery

  • Active comparator
    Lead In Phase - Arm B

    Arm B: Two DC1 vaccinations per week (given 3 days apart i.e., Mon and Thurs or Tues and Friday) x 3 weeks.

    Biological: Dendritic Cell Vaccine (DC1) · Drug: Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy · Procedure: Curative Surgery

  • Experimental
    Expansion Phase

    DC1 vaccinations according to optimal vaccination schedule. Participants will receive a booster intranodal study vaccine at week 25 prior to receiving surgery. Participants will then undergo definitive curative surgery following completion of the neoadjuvant therapy, additional adjuvant locoregional/systemic therapy (as deemed appropriate by their treating physicians).

    Biological: Dendritic Cell Vaccine (DC1) · Drug: Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy · Procedure: Curative Surgery

Interventions

  • Study Vaccine: Lead In Phase - Weekly as outlined in each treatment Arm. Expansion Phase - At the optimal schedule determined at the end of the Lead In Phase. Pre-surgery - Booster Vaccine at week 25 prior to receiving surgery. Post-surgery - Participants will receive a series of 3 booster intranodal study vaccines given once every 6 months.

    Also known as: Immunotherapy

  • DrugNeoadjuvant Chemotherapy

    Upon completion of the 3 week series of vaccinations participants will then undergo neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment with the TCH-P Taxotere (docetaxel), Carboplatin, Herceptin (trastuzumab), Perjeta (pertuzumab) standard of care neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimen given intravenously once every 3 weeks for up to 6 cycles. The treating physician will have the discretion to delay, modify, or shorten the neoadjuvant chemotherapy as per routine practice guidelines and physician discretion.

    Also known as: TCHP

  • ProcedureCurative Surgery

    Planned definitive curative surgery at 26 to 28 weeks.

This study also gives Trastuzumab, Pertuzumab. No intervention listed here names it: that was found by reading the record.

07

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Expansion Phase Schedule Selection by Week 4

    Immunogenicity of HER2 DC Vaccine per treatment Arm, based on week 4 ELISPOTs. Three metrics of CD4+ Th1 response will be computed for each patient, (a) overall anti-HER2 responsivity (i.e., if patient demonstrates a positive ELISPOT response to \>1 peptide, (b) response repertoire (i.e., number of reactive peptides) and (c) cumulative response (total SFC/10\^6 cells across 6 peptides). The primary immunogenicity outcome will be the cumulative response at week 4 (week after completion of all vaccinations).

    Time frame: By Week 4

  2. Pathologic Complete Response (pCR) Rate

    Pathologic complete response rate of participants treated in the Expansion Phase. Clinical efficacy will be defined by the pathologic complete response (pCR) rate, the percentage of patients who achieve pCR based on surgical pathology assessment.The definition of pathologic complete response (pCR) will be ypT0/is N0 (no residual viable invasive disease in the breast or nodes). Any response less than pCR will be scored as incomplete response or progression (if tumor size increases during neoadjuvant chemotherapy on physical exam/breast imaging).

    Time frame: Week 26 to 28 - At post-surgical pathological assessment

Secondary outcomes

  1. Recurrence Free Survival (RFS)

    Recurrence-free survival (RFS) will be defined as the time from first vaccination to documented recurrence (any breast event), death due to any cause or last patient contact that documents recurrence-free status (i.e., a clinic or scan date).

    Time frame: Up to 3 years post-surgery

08

Study locations

1 site
  • H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute
    Tampa, Florida 33612, United States
09

References and documents

Publications

  • Soliman H, Aldrich A, Abdo N, Han H, Soyano A, Costa R, Armaghani A, Kiluk J, Khakpour N, Lee MC, Hoover S, Laronga C, Niell B, Mooney B, Weinfurtner RJ, Rosa M, Czerniecki B. A pilot study incorporating HER2-directed dendritic cells into neoadjuvant therapy of early stage HER2+ER- breast cancer. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2025 Mar 17;11(1):29. doi: 10.1038/s41523-025-00742-x. PubMed 40097486 ↗
10

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Ran from Jun 2018 to primary completion in Aug 2023, 62 months.

Of 15 phase 1 interventional studies under Breast Neoplasms, Male, half reached primary completion within 44 months of starting (the median); a quarter within 20 and three quarters within 54. This study's 62 months is above that.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Dec 19, 2017
First posted
Jan 2, 2018
StartActual
Jun 6, 2018
Primary completionActual
Aug 29, 2023
CompletionActual
Feb 19, 2026
Last update
Sep 23, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 23, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
11

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03387553
Collaborators
United States Department of Defense
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jan 2, 2018
Start date
Jun 6, 2018
Primary completion
Aug 29, 2023
Completion
Feb 19, 2026
Last update
Sep 23, 2026

Study contacts

Haten Soliman, M.D.
principal investigator · H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Studies of the drug tested here: Dendritic Cell Vaccine

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