Updated Survival Data from BEACON CRC Lead to More Specific Questions
Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, discusses the next steps following the phase 3 BEACON CRC trial of encorafenib plus cetuximab with or without binimetinib compared with irinotecan or FOLFIRI plus cetuximab in patients with BRAF V600E metastatic colorectal cancer.
Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Gastrointestinal (GI) Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the next steps following the phase 3 BEACON CRC trial (NCT02928224) of encorafenib (Braftovi) plus cetuximab (Erbitux) with or without binimetinib (Mektovi) compared with irinotecan (Camptosar) or FOLFIRI (folinic acid, fluorouracil, and irinotecan)plus cetuximab in patients with BRAF V600E metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).
The overall survival data of the participating patients are mature, and Kopetz says he and the other investigators are hoping to further explore the potential subsets of patients that may benefit from 1 therapy over the other. There were trends showing that patients with more aggressive disease, higher inflammatory states, or poor performance status may derive more benefit with the addition of the MEK inhibitor, but these trends are still in the exploratory stage.
Another step in this trial will be understanding the mechanism of resistance using the circulating tumor DNA data and profiling the tumor with the RNA signatures to understand if there are subsets of patients that may derive more benefit from the treatment than others, says Kopetz.
