A Phase 1 interventional study of Dapagliflozin 10mg in Breast Cancer, Hyperinsulinism and HER2-negative Breast Cancer, sponsored by Yale University. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to female participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-22.
Sponsored by Yale University · Phase 1, Interventional, and Basic science
The primary objective of the study is to assess metabolic plasma markers of insulin resistance in patients with early-stage HER2-negative breast cancers receiving dapagliflozin concomitant with neoadjuvant therapy.
This is a single arm, open label trial that will evaluate changes in plasma markers of insulin resistance, namely, fasting glucose and insulin, measured as the HOMA-IR score, as well as the safety of the addition of dapagliflozin to neoadjuvant treatment in hyperinsulinemic women with newly diagnosed early stage HER2-negative breast cancers who are candidates for neoadjuvant therapy.
Hypotheses are: (i) the SGLT2 inhibitor, dapagliflozin, administered concomitantly with weekly neoadjuvant therapy in hyperinsulinemic women with newly diagnosed HER2-negative breast cancers will lead to a decrease in fasting plasma insulin and glucose and thus, a downregulation in downstream insulin signaling in the tumor as measured by Protein kinase B (PKB)/AKT phosphorylation. (ii) that dapagliflozin can be safely coadministered at full dose with multiagent chemotherapy or chemo-immunotherapy.
Routine, standard of care neoadjuvant chemotherapy, with or without immunotherapy, will be given together with the investigational product. Acceptable chemotherapy regimens include: 1) weekly paclitaxel x12 treatments followed by every two-week doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide (ddAC) x 4 treatments (ddAC-T; ); 2) pembrolizumab every 3 weeks (Q3W), with carboplatin + weekly paclitaxel (cycles 1-4) x12 weeks followed by ddAC x 4 treatments (cycles 5-8) (KEYNOTE-522 regimen; only for participants with stage II-III ER/PR and HER-negative breast cancer); 3) docetaxel plus cyclophosphamide and 4) docetaxel plus carboplatin.
The primary objective of the study is to assess metabolic plasma markers of insulin resistance in participants with early-stage HER2-negative breast cancers receiving dapagliflozin concomitant with neoadjuvant therapy.
Secondary objectives are to assess tissue expression of insulin signaling intermediates and SGLT2 by immunohistochemistry (IHC) on pre- and post-treatment tissue samples.
Outcomes will be assessed before treatment and 12 weeks post treatment (after completion of all neoadjuvant therapy but before surgery).
Registration (including outcome measures) was updated to reflect current protocol July 2024.
14,825 studies on the registry are indexed under Breast Neoplasms; 3,319 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 20 is below the median of 72 across 10,896 interventional studies indexed under Breast Neoplasms.
Browse Breast Neoplasms studies →Yale University is the lead sponsor of 1,770 studies on the registry; 294 are open to participants now.
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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.
Women > 18 years of age with newly diagnosed, confirmed, clinical stage I-III, -negative - either ER+ or triple negative - invasive breast cancer as defined by ASCO CAP guidelines for whom chemotherapy would be indicated. The following chemotherapy regimens are acceptable:
Participants should have adequate organ function to tolerate chemotherapy, as defined by:
Exclusion Criteria:
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.
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 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.
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.
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
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.
A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.
Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.
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.
Periods have stopped for good: usually no period for 12 months in a row without another medical reason, sometimes confirmed by a blood test (FSH).
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.
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.
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
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.
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.
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.
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
Vaccines made with a weakened form of the germ, such as measles–mumps–rubella (MMR), chickenpox and yellow fever. They can be risky when the immune system is weakened. Flu injections are not live; the nasal flu spray is.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
BMI (body mass index)
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Biopsy and archival tissue
A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.
Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Postmenopausal
Periods have stopped for good: usually no period for 12 months in a row without another medical reason, sometimes confirmed by a blood test (FSH).
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hemoglobin (Hb)
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
INR, PT and aPTT (clotting tests)
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraindication
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hypersensitivity
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Live vaccines
Vaccines made with a weakened form of the germ, such as measles–mumps–rubella (MMR), chickenpox and yellow fever. They can be risky when the immune system is weakened. Flu injections are not live; the nasal flu spray is.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
All participants (with insulin resistance and Estrogen Receptor (ER)+HER2-negative or ER/Progesterone receptor (PR)/HER2-negative breast cancer) will receive current standard of care neoadjuvant chemotherapy as determined by the treating physician, plus dapagliflozin 10 mg orally taken daily throughout chemotherapy treatment.
Drug: Dapagliflozin 10mg
10 mg tablets for oral administration daily throughout chemotherapy treatment
Change in Homeostasis Model Assessment-Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR)
Change in HOMA-IR (calculated as fasting insulin (μU/ml) x fasting glucose (mmol/l) divided by 22.5.
Time frame: baseline, post paclitaxel treatment at week 12, and 2 weeks post neoadjuvant therapy
Change in Fasting glucose concentration
Fasting plasma glucose concentration will be assessed following an overnight fast at baseline and 12 weeks post treatment
Time frame: baseline, post paclitaxel treatment at week 12, and 2 weeks post neoadjuvant therapy
Change in Fasting insulin concentration
Fasting plasma insulin concentration will be assessed at baseline and 12 weeks post treatment
Time frame: baseline, post paclitaxel treatment at week 12, and 2 weeks post neoadjuvant therapy
Total and phosphorylated PKB/AKT
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining for expression of Total and phosphorylated PKB/AKT in breast cancer tissue, before and after (in participants with residual cancer) treatment. For quantification of IHC, sections will be scored manually by a pathologist using the Allred system, a clinical instrument based on the percentage of cells that stain by immunohistochemistry for PKB/AKT (on a scale of 0 to 5) and the intensity of that staining (on a scale of 0 to 3, for a possible maximum total score of 8. The lower the number the less staining.
Time frame: baseline, post paclitaxel treatment at week 12, and 2 weeks post neoadjuvant therapy
Total and phosphorylated insulin receptor
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining for expression of Total and phosphorylated insulin receptor in breast cancer tissue, before and after (in participants with residual cancer) treatment. For quantification of IHC, sections will be scored manually by a pathologist using the Allred system, a clinical instrument based on the percentage of cells that stain by immunohistochemistry for PKB/AKT (on a scale of 0 to 5) and the intensity of that staining (on a scale of 0 to 3, for a possible maximum total score of 8. The lower the number the less staining.
Time frame: baseline, post paclitaxel treatment at week 12, and 2 weeks post neoadjuvant therapy
Total and phosphorylated insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF1R)
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining for expression of Total and phosphorylated insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF1R) in breast cancer tissue, before and after (in participants with residual cancer) treatment. For quantification of IHC, sections will be scored manually by a pathologist using the Allred system, a clinical instrument based on the percentage of cells that stain by immunohistochemistry for PKB/AKT (on a scale of 0 to 5) and the intensity of that staining (on a scale of 0 to 3, for a possible maximum total score of 8. The lower the number the less staining.
Time frame: baseline, post paclitaxel treatment at week 12, and 2 weeks post neoadjuvant therapy
Total and phosphorylated insulin receptor substrate (IRS) 1
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining for expression of Total and phosphorylated insulin receptor substrate (IRS) 1 in breast cancer tissue, before and after (in participants with residual cancer) treatment. For quantification of IHC, sections will be scored manually by a pathologist using the Allred system, a clinical instrument based on the percentage of cells that stain by immunohistochemistry for PKB/AKT (on a scale of 0 to 5) and the intensity of that staining (on a scale of 0 to 3, for a possible maximum total score of 8. The lower the number the less staining.
Time frame: baseline, post paclitaxel treatment at week 12, and 2 weeks post neoadjuvant therapy
Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2)
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining for expression of SGLT2 in breast cancer tissue, before and after (in participants with residual cancer) treatment. For quantification of IHC, sections will be scored manually by a pathologist using the Allred system, a clinical instrument based on the percentage of cells that stain by immunohistochemistry for PKB/AKT (on a scale of 0 to 5) and the intensity of that staining (on a scale of 0 to 3, for a possible maximum total score of 8. The lower the number the less staining.
Time frame: baseline, post paclitaxel treatment at week 12, and 2 weeks post neoadjuvant therapy
Plan to share: No
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Studies of the drug tested here: Dapagliflozin