Efficacy Study of Dasatinib in Locally Advanced Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Patients

Women who have been recently diagnosed with a type of breast cancer called "triple negative", and have not yet received any type of treatment (surgery, radiation therapy, etc.) for breast cancer are among the patient population this study will seek. "Triple negative" means breast cancer is not estrogen receptor positive (ER+), progesterone receptor positive (PgR+) or human epidermal growth factor receptor positive (HER2+). Some types of breast cancers "overexpress" one or more of these receptors. "Overexpress" means that the cancer cells have too many of these receptors. ER and PgR are hormone receptors that are located on some types of breast cancer cells. When these receptors are present, the hormones estrogen and progesterone are able to tell cancer cells to grow and divide. This kind of breast cancer does not have an over-production (overexpression) of these three receptors, and that is why we call it "triple-negative" breast cancer. We are trying to find new and better treatments for women with triple negative breast cancer. We do not know what causes triple negative breast cancers to grow. Other research studies have shown that "triple negative" breast cancers overexpress different types of receptors. These receptors might help the cancer to grow. We will be testing a drug called dasatinib. Dasatinib is a drug that is made by Bristol-Myers Squibb. It is sold under the name of Sprycel. It was first used to treat patients with leukemia, a type of blood cancer. Dasatinib interferes with the growth of some cancers. Dasatinib attaches to the cancer cell and slows down or stops the cancer cell from growing. It is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but not for the kind of cancer that you have been diagnosed with.