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Tucatinib Given Before Surgery to Patients with HER2 positive Cancers that have Spread to the Brain

Trial Status: active

This phase II trial tests how the brain absorbs, distributes, and gets rid of tucatinib, and how tumor cells may develop resistance to treatment in patients with HER2 cancers (breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, or gastroesophageal cancer) that have spread (metastasized) to the brain and will be undergoing brain surgery. Overexpression of HER2 causes tumor cells to divide and grow quickly, which occurs in HER2 positive cancers and may or may not occur in HER2 negative mutant cancers. Tucatinib has been shown to target and destroy tumor cells that overexpress HER2, which may slow or stop the growth of the cancer. However, it is not yet known how tucatinib works in the brain. The Food and Drug Administration has approved tucatinib to be given in combination with other anticancer drugs as a treatment for HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer, but the drug is not approved to treat any other type of HER2 positive cancer or to be given alone. The information gained from this trial may allow researchers to learn more about how tucatinib affects HER2 positive cancers that has spread to the brain.