Methods and compositions related to glucocorticoid receptor antagonists and breast cancer

1. A method of treating a breast cancer patient, who has been previously treated with a first anticancer agent and has cancer cells that are estrogen receptor alpha negative, the method comprising administering to the patient a therapeutically effective amount of a combination of a second anticancer agent and a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist (GRA) wherein the breast cancer patients were previously treated with the first anticancer agent more than two weeks prior to the combination.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first anticancer agent is an aromatase inhibitor.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first anticancer agent is a chemotherapeutic.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the breast cancer cells are resistant to the first chemotherapeutic agent.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the second anticancer agent is a chemotherapeutic.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the second anticancer agent is an aromatase inhibitor or tamoxifen.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the second anticancer agent is a platinum based agent, a nucleoside analog, or microtubule formation inhibitor.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the second anticancer agent is selected from the group consisting of gemcitabine, carboplatin, cisplatin or eribulin.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the second anticancer agent is selected from the group consisting of a serine/threonine kinase inhibitor, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, an angiogenesis inhibitor; and, an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor antibody.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the second anticancer agent is a taxane or a camptothecin.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second anticancer agents are the same.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second anticancer agents are different.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the second anticancer agent is radiation.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the second anticancer agent is an antibody.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the antibody is an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor antibody.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the GRA is an aryl pyrazolo azadecalin.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the cancer patient is treated with a GRA and a second anticancer agent that is a combination of a second chemotherapeutic agent and either an immunotherapeutic or radiation therapy or both.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the GRA is in a class of compounds selected from the group consisting of octahydrophenanthrenes, pyrimidinediones, dihydropyridines, dihydroisoquinolines and azadecalins.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the GRA is in the class of azadecalin compounds.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist is administered to the patient before the second anticancer agent.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist is administered to the patient after the second anticancer agent.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist and the second anticancer agent are administered to the patient at the same time.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist is administered prior to and after administration of the second chemotherapeutic.

24. The method of claim 1 where the patient is treated with radiation therapy after administration of the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein the cancer cells are PR − .

26. The method of claim 1 wherein the cancer cells are HER2 − .

27. The method of claim 1 wherein the cancer cells are both PR − and HER2 − .

28. The method of claim 1 wherein the breast cancer cells do not express estrogen receptor alpha at a level detectable by immunohistochemistry.

29. The method of claim 1 wherein the therapeutically effective amount reduces the number of breast cancer cells in the patient.

30. The method of claim 1 wherein the therapeutically effective amount inhibits the growth of existing breast cancer cells.