A Phase 2 interventional study of Carvedilol and Empagliflozin in HER2-positive Breast Cancer and HER2+ Breast Cancer, sponsored by Washington University School of Medicine. Terminated at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-13.
Sponsored by Washington University School of Medicine · Phase 2, Interventional, and Prevention
Ten to 15% of patients with breast cancer are HER2 positive, with treatment focused on targeting the HER2 receptor. Although these treatments are generally well tolerated, they are associated with an increased risk of cardiomyopathy. There are currently no treatments proven to prevent the cardiotoxicities associated with HER2-targeted therapy, but there is convincing preclinical data demonstrating that prophylactic treatment with a beta blocker (BB) and/or an SGLT2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) may each independently prevent cardiotoxicity and HER-targeted treatment interruptions.
The proposed pilot study will assess the feasibility and preliminary efficacy and safety of therapy with both a beta blocker (carvedilol) and an SGLT2 inhibitor (empagliflozin), alone and in combination, in a population initiating HER2-directed therapy for HER2+ breast cancer.
The hypotheses being tested in this study are:
12,544 studies on the registry are indexed under Breast Neoplasms; 2,892 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 7 is below the median of 72 across 9,303 interventional studies indexed under Breast Neoplasms.
Browse Breast Neoplasms studies →Washington University School of Medicine is the lead sponsor of 1,765 studies on the registry; 271 are open to participants now.
Of its 324 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 212 (65%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Contraindication to carvedilol or empagliflozin at the discretion of the investigator such as:
Carvedilol by mouth twice per day (BID) for 12 weeks.
Drug: Carvedilol
Empagliflozin by mouth daily (QD) for 12 weeks.
Drug: Empagliflozin
Carvedilol by mouth twice per day (BID) for 12 weeks and empagliflozin by mouth daily (QD) for 12 weeks.
Drug: Carvedilol · Drug: Empagliflozin
No medications.
6.25 mg with food
Also known as: Coreg
10 mg in the morning with or without food
Also known as: Jardiance
Feasibility of HER2HEART as measured by the number of patients enrolled over a 10-month period
Feasibility is defined as enrollment of 20-40 patients (5-10 per am) over a 10-month recruitment period.
Time frame: 10 months
Tolerability as measured by treatment adherence via self-report
Time frame: From start of treatment through last day of study treatment (estimated to be 3 months)
Tolerability as measured by incidence of serious adverse events
Time frame: From start of treatment through last day of study treatment (estimated to be 3 months)
Tolerability as measured by incidence of adverse events of special interest
* Symptomatic hypotension (systolic blood pressure \<90 mmHg) * Symptomatic bradycardia (heart rate \<50 bpm) * Acute renal dysfunction (eGFR decrease \>30% from baseline) * Syncope * Symptomatic hypoglycemia (blood glucose \<70 mg/dL) * Perineal infection * Urinary tract infection * Diabetic ketoacidosis (commonly accepted criteria are blood glucose \> 250 mg/dL, arterial pH \< 7.3, serum bicarbonate \< 15 mEq/L, and the presence of ketonemia or ketonuria). * Euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis (diabetic ketoacidosis in the absence of hyperglycemia)
Time frame: From start of treatment through last day of study treatment (estimated to be 3 months)
Tolerability as measured by number of participants who withdraw from the study due to adverse events
Time frame: From start of treatment through last day of study treatment (estimated to be 3 months)
Plan to share: Yes — All of the individual participant data collected during the trial will be shared after deidentification. These requests are reviewed and will be approved by study investigators on the basis of scientific merit.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap
This study is terminated, as verified in May 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Washington University School of Medicine