RecruitingPhase 2NCT06452394

NEODOXy: Targeting Breast Cancer Stem Cells With Doxycycline

NEODOXy: Targeting Cancer Stem Cells With NEOadjuvant DOXYcycline in Patients With Early Estrogen Receptor Positive / Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2- Negative Breast Cancer. A Prospective, Multicenter, Single Arm, Open Label Phase II Trial

Sponsor

Swiss Cancer Institute

Enrollment

50 participants

Start Date

Jul 16, 2025

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Conditions

Breast Cancer

Summary

Despite modern surgical and medical treatments, breast cancer can re-occur and lead 20% of patients to death. During the last 20 years, pre-clinical studies have shown that treatment failures may be due to the presence of a sub-type of cancer cells, the cancer stem cells, which are resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. By chance, doxycycline, an old, inexpensive and safe molecule seems to target effectively these cancer stem cells. This study proposes to check for the clinical efficacy of doxycycline to target the cancer stem cells and improve the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in ER+/HER2- breast cancers.

Eligibility

Min Age: 18 Years

Plain Language Summary

Simplified for easier understanding

This Swiss study (NEODOXy) tests whether adding doxycycline — an antibiotic that also kills cancer stem cells — to standard chemotherapy before breast cancer surgery improves outcomes. Breast cancer stem cells are thought to drive treatment resistance and recurrence. **You may be eligible if...** - You have hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative invasive breast cancer (ER+ /HER2-) - Your tumor is at least 2 cm - You are scheduled for neoadjuvant (pre-surgery) chemotherapy with standard regimens (EC followed by paclitaxel) - You are a candidate for curative surgery **You may NOT be eligible if...** - You have HER2-positive or triple-negative breast cancer - You have metastatic breast cancer - You are pregnant or breastfeeding Talk to your doctor to see if this trial is right for you.

This summary was AI-generated to explain the trial in plain language. It is not medical advice. Always discuss eligibility with your doctor before enrolling in a clinical trial.

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Interventions

DRUGDoxycyclin

Belongs to the class of tetracyclines. It has bacteriostatic activity against a broad range of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Its mechanism of action lies in the binding to the 30S ribosomal subunit