Triplet Regimen Improves Responses in BRAF V600E+ Metastatic CRC

Tanios Bekaii-Saab, MD, a professor of medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, and the leader of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Program at Mayo Clinic, discusses the results from the phase III BEACON CRC study; investigators evaluated the efficacy and safety of triplet encorafenib (Bratovi), binimetinib (Mektovi), and cetuximab (Erbitux) in patients with BRAF V600E—mutant metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) who previously received up to 2 lines of prior therapy.

Data from 30 patients in the run-in phase of the trial suggested a 50% response rate with the triplet regimen. Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to receive either the triplet regimen, encorafenib and cetuximab, or the control, cetuximab and FOLFIRI chemotherapy (irinotecan, fluorouracil, and leucovorin). The open-label, international study was powered to look at the difference between the 2 arms and the control, says Bekaii-Saab.

The difference between the triplet regimen and the control arm was quite significant; the response rate was 26.1% with the triplet compared to 1.9%. The median overall survival for the triplet was 9.0 months versus 5.4 months, and median progression-free survival was also improved with the triplet compared to the control arm. The combination will be transformational for the way patients with mCRC are treated, according to Bekaii-Saab.