ClinicalTrials.gg
Not yet recruitingNCT07828054MARGARETUpdated Oct 19, 2026

Premedication With Dexamethasone for Preventing Interstitial Lung Disease in Patients With Breast Cancer Treated With Trastuzumab Deruxtecan

A Phase 3 interventional study of Dexamethasone and antiemetic premedication in Breast Cancer and Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD), sponsored by Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-19.

Sponsored by Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research · Phase 3, Interventional, and Treatment

Updated Oct 19, 2026Primary outcomes revisedInterventions changedGo to Updates ↓
Phase
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
244
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) has recently received approval as an antibody-drug conjugate for treating patients with metastatic breast cancer (BC) who have HER-2 protein expression as determined by immunohistochemistry, including HER2-positive, -low and -ultralow BC. Its use has shown significant effectiveness in terms of response and survival rates. Pulmonary toxicity, specifically interstitial lung disease (ILD), is of significant clinical interest. For cases of mild toxicity, namely grade 1, the diagnosis relies exclusively on radiological findings in the absence of symptoms. In such cases, T-DXd is temporarily stopped and steroids might be used as treatment. Once the radiological findings have been resolved, the drug can be resumed. Grade 2 is distinguished by the presence of clinical signs such as difficulty breathing and coughing, as well as radiological evidence. In such instances, the medication must be permanently stopped. As a consequence, it is recommended that patients receiving T-DXd treatment should be closely monitored with high-resolution (HR) CT scans every 6-12 weeks. The precise mechanism responsible for this toxicity has not yet been fully elucidated; but it is thought to be inflammatory in origin The risk factors for ILD include lower baseline SpO2, lung comorbidities, reduced renal function, time from initial diagnosis, and drug dose. Administering dexamethasone as a premedication twice a day from the day before T-DXd infusion (D-1) through day 4 (D4) may lower ILD incidence and help prevent permanent T-DXd treatment discontinuation. Primary objective To assess the efficacy of dexamethasone premedication in reducing the occurrence of ILD >G1 in breast cancer patients receiving T-DXd treatment.

02

Conditions studied

  • Breast Cancer
  • Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD)

Keywords

  • breast cancer
  • interstitial lung disease (ILD)
  • dexamethasone
  • premedication
03

In context

Breast Neoplasms

14,825 studies on the registry are indexed under Breast Neoplasms; 3,319 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 244 is above the median of 72 across 10,896 interventional studies indexed under Breast Neoplasms.

Browse Breast Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research is the lead sponsor of 160 studies on the registry; 37 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
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

  1. Provision of signed, written and dated study , data protection informed consent and any locally required
  2. Women or men aged ≥18 years (or the minimum age of consent in accordance with the local law), at the time of informed consent signature.
  3. or cytologically confirmed breast cancer for which T-DXd treatment is approved and available at the participating center.
  4. Diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer candidate to start a treatment with T-DXd in the subsequent settings:

    1. HR-positive with expression of (low or ultralow) ≤ 2 in advanced disease
    2. HR-negative with expression of HER2-low ≤ 2 lines of chemotherapy in advanced disease
    3. HER2-positive independently from HR-positivity ≤ 3 lines of treatment in advanced disease
  5. performance status of 0 or 1.
  6. Adequate bone marrow as defined by the following laboratory values:

    1. ≥1.5 × 109 /L
    2. ≥100 × 109 /L
    3. ≥9.0 g/dL
  7. Adequate hepatic function: Serum albumin ≥ 2.5 g/dL; total ≤ 1.5 times (ULN) (≤ 3 in patients with liver metastases or know history of Gilbert's disease); alkaline phosphatase (ALP) ≤ 2.5 times ULN; (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) ≤ 3 times ULN (≤ 5 in patients with liver metastases); (INR) \< 1.5.
  8. Adequate before randomization, including ≥4 weeks from major surgery or chest radiotherapy (≥2 weeks for non-chest stereotactic radiotherapy)
  9. Patient willing and able to comply with the protocol procedures for the duration of the study including undergoing treatment and scheduled visits and examinations including follow-up.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Patients with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus both type 1 and type 2 ( > 8.5%).
  2. Patients with to dexamethasone, as determined by the investigator in consultation with medical monitoring before enrolment.
  3. Patients already undergoing chronic treatment (e.g. 10 mg/day of prednisone/prednisolone or equivalent).
  4. Patients requiring oxygen therapy at rest.
  5. Documented pneumonitis/ILD prior to Cycle 1 Day 1.
  6. Uncontrolled or significant cardiovascular disease, including recent myocardial infarction (within 6 months), symptomatic heart failure ( II-IV), elevated troponin without symptoms requiring cardiology evaluation, uncontrolled hypertension or arrhythmias, and prolongation >470 ms in females or >450 ms in males.
  7. Impaired renal function with \<30 mL/min (calculated by Cockcroft-Gault formula).
  8. Active or newly diagnosed , including meningeal carcinomatosis.
  9. Patients with recent (\<28 days) respiratory infections.
  10. Inability to take oral medications, or chronic nausea, gastrointestinal conditions (including significant gastric or bowel resection), history of malabsorption syndrome, or any other uncontrolled gastrointestinal condition that impacts the absorption of the study drug.
  11. Palliative limited-field radiotherapy: \<2 weeks (non-chest) or \<4 weeks (chest or >30% bone marrow).
  12. Receipt of live, attenuated vaccine (mRNA and replication deficient adenoviral vaccines are not considered attenuated ) within 30 days prior to the first dose of trastuzumab deruxtecan. Note: Patients, if enrolled, should not receive live vaccine during the study and up to 390 days after the last dose of IMP.
  13. Active and uncontrolled infection requiring IV antibiotics, antivirals, or antifungals.
  14. Evidence of ongoing alcohol or drug abuse as assessed by the Investigator.
  15. Any severe medical or psychiatric condition that, in the Investigator's opinion, would preclude the patient's participation in a clinical study
  16. Male and female subjects of reproductive/ must agree to use a highly effective form of or avoid intercourse during study participation. Female subjects without childbearing potential are defined as women who are surgically sterile (hysterectomy or documented bilateral tubal ligation) or , defined as at least 12 months of spontaneous amenorrhea.
  17. Known allergy or to study drugs or any .
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(28)

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.

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.

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.

Metastases

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

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.

Line of therapy

A line of therapy is one course of treatment, which may combine several drugs. First-line is the first course given; second-line follows when that stops working or is not tolerated.

“Two prior lines” means two courses that count separately under the study’s rules — not simply two drugs. Ask the study team if you are unsure how yours are counted.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

Washout period

A planned gap after a treatment, so that its effects can lessen before the study treatment or a study assessment. Ask the study team and the doctor who prescribed it before changing any medicine.

HbA1c

A blood test of average blood sugar over the past two to three months, given as a percentage or in mmol/mol. 6.5% (48 mmol/mol) or more is the usual threshold for diabetes, normally confirmed by a second test.

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.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

NYHA class (heart failure)

The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.

I
No limits: ordinary activity causes no undue tiredness or breathlessness.
II
Slight limits: comfortable at rest, ordinary activity causes symptoms.
III
Marked limits: comfortable at rest, less than ordinary activity causes symptoms.
IV
Symptoms even at rest; any activity makes them worse.

Studies set their own limit — many outside heart failure leave out class III–IV, while heart failure studies may ask for a particular class. Check the class this study names.

QT and QTc

On an ECG, the QT interval is the time the heart’s lower chambers take to activate electrically and recover in each beat. QTc is that time adjusted for heart rate (QTcF by Fridericia’s formula, QTcB by Bazett’s). Some medicines lengthen it, and a long QTc can raise the risk of a dangerous heart rhythm.

The study may name a correction formula and a limit in milliseconds, often around 450–480.

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.

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.

Relapsed and refractory

Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Excipients

The other ingredients in a medicine besides the active drug, such as fillers, colours or preservatives.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
244 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Arm A (experimental arm) - Dexamethasone+standard antiemetic premedication+T-DXd infusion

    patients will receive premedication with dexamethasone 4 mg twice a day from D-1 to D4, in addition to recommended standard antiemetic premedication. For both arms, the recommended standard antiemetic premedication consists of a three-drug combination-5-HT3 receptor antagonists, NK1 receptor antagonists, and dexamethasone-administered on the first day of T-DXd infusion.

    Drug: Dexamethasone · Drug: antiemetic premedication · Drug: T-DXd

  • Active comparator
    Arm B (control arm) - Standard antiemetic premedication+T-DXd infusion

    patients will receive recommended standard antiemetic premedication. For both arms, the recommended standard antiemetic premedication consists of a three-drug combination-5-HT3 receptor antagonists, NK1 receptor antagonists, and dexamethasone-administered on the first day of T-DXd infusion.

    Drug: antiemetic premedication · Drug: T-DXd

Interventions

  • Arm A (experimental arm): patients will receive premedication with dexamethasone 4 mg twice a day from D-1 to D4, in addition to recommended standard antiemetic premedication.

  • Drugantiemetic premedication

    three-drug combination-5-HT3 receptor antagonists, NK1 receptor antagonists, and dexamethasone

  • DrugT-DXd

    T-DXd treatment in patients with metastatic breast cancer

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Primary endpoint - Cumulative incidence, patients who experience an ILD > G1

    Cumulative incidence of patients who experience an ILD \> G1 on high-resolution thorax CT scan during the treatment with T-DXd at 12 months from randomization by local Investigator's judgement according to CTCAE, version 6.0. Discontinuation of T-DXd treatment for any reason other than ILD \>G1 will be considered as a competing event.

    Time frame: 12 months

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — No plan no share

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

1 registry update 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

Start is estimated for Dec 2026; primary completion for Dec 2030, 48 months later.

Of 328 non-industry phase 3 interventional studies under Breast Neoplasms, half reached primary completion within 79 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 50 and three quarters within 127. This study's planned 48 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 600 studies reached it within 59 months; a quarter within 36 and three quarters within 96.

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

Registered
Sep 14, 2026
First posted
Sep 18, 2026
StartEst.
Dec 20, 2026
Primary completionEst.
Dec 20, 2030
CompletionEst.
Dec 20, 2030
Last update
Oct 19, 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.
Interventions
Arm changed Arm A (experimental arm)→Arm A (experimental arm) - Dexamethasone+standard antiemetic premedication+T-DXd infusion; Arm B (control arm)→Arm B (control arm) - Standard antiemetic premedication+T-DXd infusion
Oct 19, 2026
Primary outcomes
1 edited
What changed in the outcomes
  • ChangedBefore Primary endpointNow Primary endpoint - Cumulative incidence, patients who experience an ILD > G1Time frame: 12 months
Oct 19, 2026
Show all 1 update
  1. Oct 19, 2026
    Primary outcomes 1 edited
    What changed in the outcomes
    • ChangedBefore Primary endpointNow Primary endpoint - Cumulative incidence, patients who experience an ILD > G1Time frame: 12 months
    Interventions Arm changed Arm A (experimental arm)→Arm A (experimental arm) - Dexamethasone+standard antiemetic premedication+T-DXd infusion; Arm B (control arm)→Arm B (control arm) - Standard antiemetic premedication+T-DXd infusion
    + 3 other changes: verification date, description and data sharing statement

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 ↗

10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07828054
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Sep 18, 2026
Start date
Dec 20, 2026 (estimated)
Primary completion
Dec 20, 2030 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 20, 2030 (estimated)
Last update
Oct 19, 2026

Study contacts

Irene De Simone, MSc
Contact
irene.desimone@marionegri.it
+39 ext. 0239014661

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Oct 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Studies of the drug tested here: Dexamethasone

Start the discussion