Stage IV Breast Cancer AJCC v6 and v7

This study collects blood and tissue samples from patients with cancer and without cancer to evaluate tests for early cancer detection. Collecting and storing samples of blood and tissue from patients with and without cancer to study in the laboratory may help researchers develop tests for the early detection of cancers.

This phase I trial investigates the side effects and best dose of using a modified measles virus, MV-s-NAP, in treating patients with invasive breast cancer that has spread to other places in the body (metastatic). Both the unmodified vaccination measles virus (MV-Edm) and this modified virus (MV-s-NAP) have been shown to multiply in and destroy breast cancer cells in the test tube and in research mice. MV-s-NAP has been altered by having an extra gene (piece of deoxyribonucleic acid \[DNA\]) so that virus can make a protein called helicobacter pylori neutrophil activating protein (NAP) which is normally expressed in inflammatory reactions. Monitoring blood, urine, tissue, and throat swab samples, and using imaging tests may help to determine whether MV-s-NAP has any impact on the amount of disease present in metastatic breast cancer patients.

This trial has two cohorts of patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)-2-positive breast cancer that has spread to other places in the body. All patients must be receiving trastuzumab-based treatment. Both cohorts are being observed for cardiac toxicity. The largest cohort (currently open to accrual) is observational, and contains patients who are taking a beta blocker, ACE inhibitor, or ARB as well as their trastuzumab-based treatment. The goal is to understand how common cardiac problems are in this group of patients at high risk. The smaller cohort (currently closed to accrual) is randomized. Patients in this second cohort are randomized to either carvedilol or no treatment, with the goal of seeing whether carvedilol (used to treat heart failure and high blood pressure) may prevent the heart from side effects of chemotherapy.