Skip to main content
An official website of the United States government

Pembrolizumab, Ablative Radiotherapy and Olaparib for the Treatment of Metastatic Triple-Negative or Metastatic ER Positive Breast Cancer

Trial Status: active

This phase II trial studies the effect of pembrolizumab and ablative radiotherapy in combination with olaparib in treating patients with triple-negative or estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic). Pembrolizumab is an antibody, like the proteins made by the immune system to protect the body from harm. Pembrolizumab blocks the protein PD 1 (programmed cell death receptor 1) that usually acts as a “brake” on the immune system. Blocking this protein is like releasing the brakes, so that the immune system can target tumor cells and destroy them. Stereotactic ablative radiation therapy uses special equipment to position a patient and deliver radiation to tumors with high precision. This method may kill tumor cells with fewer doses over a shorter period and cause less damage to normal tissue. Olaparib is a type of medication called a PARP inhibitor. PARP is a protein that helps repair damage to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the genetic material that serves as your body’s instruction book. Changes (mutations) in DNA can cause tumor cells to grow quickly and out of control. But PARP inhibitors have been shown to prevent PARP from working, so tumor cells can’t repair themselves, and they stop growing. The combination radiation with pembrolizumab and olaparib may activate the body’s immune cells to travel to and attack and destroy other sites of triple-negative or ER+ breast cancer in the body.