An observational study in Breast Cancer, Breast Carcinoma and Cancer of the Breast, sponsored by National Cancer Institute (NCI). Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 120 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-10.
Sponsored by National Cancer Institute (NCI) · Observational
Background:
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. It can often spread to the liver, lungs, bones, or brain. Breast cancer that spreads to the brain is often fatal. Researchers want to know if tumor DNA found in spinal fluid, blood, or tumor tissue can help predict when the cancer will spread to the brain. They want to collect these fluid and tissue samples for research.
Objective:
To collect spinal fluid and other samples from people with breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.
Eligibility:
People aged 18 years and older with HER2-positive or triple negative breast cancer. The cancer must have spread to other parts of the body but not to the brain.
Design:
Participants will be screened. They will have blood tests to assess kidney function. They will have an imaging scan of the brain.
Participants will come to the NIH clinic to have their samples collected:
Participants will be contacted for follow-up every 6 months for 3 years. They may return once a year to provide further samples.
Background
Primary Objective
-To collect CSF samples from participants with metastatic triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and HER2+ breast cancer (BC) with no prior history nor active radiographically detectable brain metastases
Eligibility
Design
1,219 studies on the registry are indexed under Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms; 446 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 139 is below the median of 193 across 106 observational studies indexed under Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms.
Browse Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms studies →National Cancer Institute (NCI) is the lead sponsor of 3,556 studies on the registry; 336 are open to participants now.
Of its 411 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 373 (91%) have results posted.
Compared within Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms, 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 →
Participants with metastatic triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and HER2-positive breast cancer with no prior history nor active radiographically detectable brain metastases.
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.
Adequate organ function as defined below:
OR
--Calculated >=40 mL/min/1.73 m2 for individuals with creatinine levels above institutional ULN (using either Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration [] equation)
- Participants must be able to understand and willing to sign a written document.
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.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Cancer deposits in the brain from a cancer that started elsewhere in the body (CNS metastases include the spinal cord).
Studies differ: some leave out any brain metastases, some accept ones treated and stable for some weeks. Check what this study allows.
Cancer that has spread to the leptomeninges, the thin layers covering the brain and spinal cord, and the fluid between them. It is not the same as brain metastases.
Criteria often treat it separately, and many studies leave it out even where treated brain metastases are allowed.
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
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.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Brain metastases
Cancer deposits in the brain from a cancer that started elsewhere in the body (CNS metastases include the spinal cord).
Studies differ: some leave out any brain metastases, some accept ones treated and stable for some weeks. Check what this study allows.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Leptomeningeal disease
Cancer that has spread to the leptomeninges, the thin layers covering the brain and spinal cord, and the fluid between them. It is not the same as brain metastases.
Criteria often treat it separately, and many studies leave it out even where treated brain metastases are allowed.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Cancer (malignancy)
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants with metastatic triple negative breast cancer (mTNBC) without a history or active radiographically detectable CNS disease who underwent at least one systemic therapy
Other: Arm 1
Participants with metastatic HER2+ BC without a history or active radiographically detectable CNS disease who underwent at least one systemic therapy
Other: Arm 1
Participants with newly diagnosed mTNBC without a history or active radiographically detectable CNS disease and without prior systemic therapies
Other: Arm 1
Participants with newly diagnosed metastatic HER2+ BC without a history or active radiographically detectable CNS disease and without prior systemic therapies
Other: Arm 1
Collection of CSF, blood, tumor tissue, and saliva or buccal mucosa
Collection of CSF samples
CSF samples from participants with metastatic triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and HER2+ breast cancer (BC) with no prior history nor active radiographically detectable brain metastases will be collected to perform downstream analyses will be collected and summarized/described descriptively.
Time frame: Up to 3 years
Plan to share: Yes — This study will comply with the NIH Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy, which applies to all new and ongoing NIH-funded research in the IRP, as of January 25, 2023, that is associated with a ZIA, with a clinical protocol that undergoes scientific review and/or will involve genomic data sharing.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Statistical analysis plan, Informed consent form
Time frame: Data will be made available as soon as possible or at the time of associated publication. Data not published in a manuscript will be shared via public source once the data set completes QC.
Access criteria: Clinical data will be made available upon request and with the permission of the study PI. Genomic data are made available via dbGAP through requests to the data custodians.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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