Triplet Therapy for Certain Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Shows Promise, But More Research is Needed

In updated findings from the BEACON CRC study evaluating the triplet regimen of Braftovi (encorafenib), Mektovi (binimetinib)‎ and Erbitux (cetuximab), plus the doublet of Braftovi and Erbitux for patients with V600E—mutated metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC), new mature survival data shows promising signs for patients, but more research is needed for patients with aggressive disease.

Follow-up data presented at the 2020 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Virtual Scientific Program demonstrated that patients receiving the triplet therapy achieved a median overall survival of 9.3 months, which was superior to the 5.4 months reported in the control arm. However, more analysis is needed to better understand the mechanisms of resistance in patients who did not respond as well, explained Dr. Scott Kopetz.

Kopetz, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discussed the results of the study with OncLive^®, a sister publication to CURE^®, as well as what researchers need to look at further to refine the treatment.

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The follow up that we have is now mature, for the overall survival. We are hoping to interrogate further into the potential subsets of patients that may benefit from therapy to the other.

There were some trends that patients with a more aggressive disease or higher inflammatory states or poor performance status may derive more benefit from the addition of the MEK, although, this is certainly exploratory.

And also, wanting to understand the mechanisms of resistance using the circulating tumor DNA data and profiling of the tumor with the RNA signatures to understand that there are subsets of patients who may derive more benefit from this treatment than others.