Ritonavir and Its Effects on Biomarkers in Women Undergoing Surgery for Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer

OBJECTIVES: * Determine the effects of ritonavir on Akt activity, UPR, Ki67 LI, and ROS in a triple-negative breast cancer model. * Determine the maximum tolerated dose of ritonavir in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer. (Phase I - enrollment complete) OUTLINE: This is a multicenter, phase I dose-escalation study followed by a phase II study. \*Note: This trial never moved forward to Phase ll. Control Group - Five patients with estrogen receptor positive (ER+) and human epidermal growth factor 2 negative (HER2-) breast cancer are enrolled before the start of phase I recruitment. Phase I Group - Twelve breast cancer patients with either 1)ER+, HER2-, or 2)ER+, HER2+, or 3) ER-, HER2+, or 4) ER-, PR+, HER2-, or 5) ER-, PR-, HER2- will be enrolled for dose escalation study. Phase II Group - Nineteen ER+, HER2- patients will be enrolled for ritonavir pharmacokinetic study after maximum tolerated dose (MTD) is established. * Control: Patients do not receive ritonavir. * Phases I and II: Patients receive oral ritonavir twice daily for 5 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients then undergo surgery as deemed appropriate by the surgeon and based on patient preference (mastectomy or lumpectomy with sentinel node procedure and/or axillary node dissection). All patients undergo blood and tissue sample collection periodically for biomarker research studies. Samples from patients enrolled in the control group are compared with the samples from patients enrolled in phase I and II.