Cetuximab in Neoadjuvant Treatment of Non-Resectable Colorectal Liver Metastases (CELIM)

Open, Randomized, Multicenter, Randomized Phase II Trial Comparing the Combination of Cetuximab With Oxaliplatin/5-FU/FA Versus the Combination of Cetuximab With Irinotecan/5-FU/FA as Neoadjuvant Treatment in Patients With Non-Resectable Colorectal Liver Metastases

General Objectives:

• To test the feasibility of neoadjuvant treatment with cetuximab/chemotherapy followed by liver resection
• To determine the optimal combination (cetuximab/FOLFOX versus cetuximab/FOLFIRI) for further trials in preoperative chemotherapy

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Colorectal Cancer; Liver Metastases
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Cetuximab; Procedure: Liver resection; Drug: Cetuximab and FOLFIRI; Drug: Cetuximab and FOLFOX

Detailed Description

Patients with liver metastasis will be screened for this study. Eligible patients will complete the pretreatment evaluation including an abdominal CT scan that will be presented to the local surgeon and the radiologist for proving of resectability of hepatic lesions. Additionally, CT scans will be reviewed by three reference surgeons. In case of non-resectability, as defined above, CT- or ultrasound- guided biopsy of one of the liver metastases will be performed, unless biopsy material is available from prior biopsy of one of the liver metastases.

Instead of an ultrasound-guided biopsy, a CT-guided biopsy may be performed.

Formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded metastatic tissue will be sent to reference laboratory (Prof. Störkel, Wuppertal) for immunohistochemical analysis of EGFR- expression.

Additionally tissue will be stored in "RNA later" for gene expression analysis if agreed by the patient.

Additionally, the primary tumor will be collected and sent to the reference laboratory for analysis of EGFR- expression (if agreement of the patient exists).

Patients will be randomized to a combination of:

Cetuximab/FOLFIRI (irinotecan/5-FU/FA) or Cetuximab/FOLFOX6 (oxaliplatin/5-FU/FA)

All patients receive a four month treatment (eight cycles) of the allocated treatment.

Resection is planned after completion of neoadjuvant treatment and should be performed between 4 and 6 weeks after the last dose of chemotherapy. Probes of the resected material (in liquid nitrogen and paraffin embedded material will be collected).

If a resection is not possible after eight administrations of chemotherapy, chemotherapy will be continued until tumor progression (maximal duration of treatment 2 years) and the patient will be evaluated for a potential resection every two months.

After resection, postoperative treatment is planned for 3 months (6 cycles). Treatment start is planned between 4 and 8 weeks after the operation.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 135
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Austria
  • Wien, Austria, A-1090
    • Medizinische Universitaet Wien, Universitaetsklinik für Chirurgie
• Germany
  • Aschersleben, Germany, 06449
    • Kreiskrankenhaus Aschersleben
  • Berlin, Germany, 12200
    • Charite-Campus Benjamin Franklin, Innere Medizin
  • Berlin, Germany, 13353
    • Charite-Campus, Virchow-Klinikum, Innere Medizin
  • Celle, Germany, 29223
    • Allgemeines Krankenhaus Celle
  • Dresden, Germany, 01307
    • University Hospital "Carl Gustav Carus"
  • Duesseldorf, Germany, 40489
    • Florence-Nightingale-Krankenhaus
  • Erlangen, Germany, 91054
    • Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg, Chirurgie
  • Essen, Germany, 45112
    • Westdeutsches Tumorzentrum, Universitaetsklinikum Essen
  • Frankfurt Main, Germany, 60596
    • Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universitaet, Chirurgie
  • Kaiserslautern, Germany, 67653
    • Westpfalz-Klinikum GmbH Innere Medizin I
  • Kiel, Germany, 24116
    • UKSH Campus Kiel, II. Medizinische Klinik
  • Magdeburg, Germany, 39130
    • Staedtisches Klinikum Magdeburg-Olvenstedt
  • Mannheim, Germany, 68167
    • Universitaetsklinik Mannheim gGmbH, III. Medizinische Klinik
  • Muenchen, Germany, 81377
    • Klinikum Grosshadern, III. Medizinische Klinik
  • Oldenburg, Germany, 26133
    • Klinikum Oldenburg GmbH
  • Passau, Germany, 94032
    • Klinikum Passau, II. Medizinische Klinik
  • Stralsund, Germany, 18435
    • Klinikum der Hansestadt Stralsund GmbH, Medizinische Klinik
  • Trier, Germany, 54292
    • Krankenhaus der Barmherzigen Brueder Trier, Chirurgie
  • Tuebingen, Germany, 72076
    • Universitaetsklinikum Tuebingen
  • Wuerzburg, Germany, 97080
    • Universitaetsklinikum Wuerzburg, Chirurgie

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with non-resectable, histologically confirmed, synchronous or metachronous colorectal liver metastases. Patients with non-resectable metastases are defined as; patients with five or more liver metastases; and/or patients with liver metastases that are technically non-resectable (local surgeon in cooperation with local radiologist will define non-resectability on the basis of remaining functional liver tissue, infiltration of all liver veins, infiltration of both liver arteries, both portal branches or both bile ducts).
• Patients with simultaneous liver metastases are eligible, if the primary tumor has been resected at least 1 month prior to chemotherapy.
• Karnofsky Performance Status ≥ 80
• Informed consent
• Adequate bone marrow function, liver and renal function (neutrophils > 1.5 x 10^9/l; thrombocytes > 100 x 10^9/l; hemoglobin > 8.0 g/l; bilirubin ≤ 1.5 x upper limit of normal [ULN] and not increasing more than 25% within the last 4 weeks; ALAT and ASAT < 5 x UNL; serum creatinine ≤ 1.5 x UNL)
• Age ≥ 18 years

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any evidence of extrahepatic metastases, lymph node metastases and primary tumor recurrence
• Prior chemotherapy (except adjuvant chemotherapy with an interval of ≥ 6 months)
• Previous exposure to EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor)-targeting therapy
• Radiotherapy or major abdominal or thoracic surgery (excluding diagnostic biopsy or port implantation) ≤ 4 weeks before study entry
• Concurrent systemic immune therapy, chemotherapy, or hormone therapy
• Investigational agents or participation in clinical trials within 30 days before start of the treatment in study
• Clinically relevant coronary disease or myocardial infarction within 12 months before study entry
• Peripheral neuropathy > CTC grade I
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Previous malignancy (except colorectal cancer, history of basal cell carcinoma of skin or pre-invasive carcinoma of the cervix with adequate treatment)
• History of severe psychiatric illness
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• Breast feeding or pregnant women, no effective contraception if risk of conception exists (male and female patients)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: 1; Cetuximab and FOLFIRI	Drug: Cetuximab; Procedure: Liver resection; Drug: Cetuximab and FOLFIRI; Cetuximab 400 mg/m² (2.0 h i.v.) (first dose only), followed by: Cetuximab 250 mg/m² (1.0 h i.v.) weekly Irinotecan 180 mg/m² (2.0 h i.v.) all compounds day 1, repeated at day 15 Folinic acid (D,L) 400 mg/m² (2.0 h i.v.) 5-FU 400 mg/m² (bolus i.v.) 5-FU 2400 (-3000) mg/m² (46 h i.v.); Other Names: 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU); Cetuximab(C225, Erbitux®, Merck KGaA); Irinotecan (irinotecan HCl, CPT-11 or Campto®, Aventis); Folinic acid (FA, i.e. Leucovorin®, Wyeth)
Active Comparator: 2; Cetuximab and FOLFOX	Drug: Cetuximab; Procedure: Liver resection; Drug: Cetuximab and FOLFOX; Cetuximab 400 mg/m² (2.0 h i.v.) (first dose only), followed by: Cetuximab 250 mg/m² (1.0 h i.v.) weekly Oxaliplatin 100 mg/m² (2.0 h i.v.) all compounds day 1, repeated at day 15 Folinic acid (D,L) 400 mg/m² (2.0 h i.v.) 5-FU 400 mg/m² (bolus i.v.) 5-FU 2400 (-3000) mg/m² (46 h i.v.); Other Names: 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU); Cetuximab(C225, Erbitux®, Merck KGaA); Folinic acid (FA, i.e. Leucovorin®, Wyeth); Oxaliplatin (L-OHP, Eloxatin®, Sanofi-Synthelabo)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Tumor response, defined as partial and complete response according to RECIST (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors) - criteria in the intention-to-treat [ITT-] population

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Rate of R0 liver resection (ITT- population)
Progression free survival (ITT- population)
Disease free survival after resection (ITT- population)
Overall survival (ITT- population)
Safety (all patients that received any study drug)
Molecular predictive markers for response and toxicity

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Technische Universität Dresden
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Claus-Henning Köhne, Prof. Dr., Klinikum Oldenburg GmbH, Dr.-Eden-Str.10; 26133 Oldenburg; Principal Investigator: Gunnar Folprecht, Dr., University Hospital Dresden, Fetscherstr. 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Folprecht G, Gruenberger T, Bechstein W, Raab HR, Weitz J, Lordick F, Hartmann JT, Stoehlmacher-Williams J, Lang H, Trarbach T, Liersch T, Ockert D, Jaeger D, Steger U, Suedhoff T, Rentsch A, Kohne CH. Survival of patients with initially unresectable colorectal liver metastases treated with FOLFOX/cetuximab or FOLFIRI/cetuximab in a multidisciplinary concept (CELIM study). Ann Oncol. 2014 May;25(5):1018-25. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdu088. Epub 2014 Feb 27.
• Folprecht G, Gruenberger T, Bechstein WO, Raab HR, Lordick F, Hartmann JT, Lang H, Frilling A, Stoehlmacher J, Weitz J, Konopke R, Stroszczynski C, Liersch T, Ockert D, Herrmann T, Goekkurt E, Parisi F, Kohne CH. Tumour response and secondary resectability of colorectal liver metastases following neoadjuvant chemotherapy with cetuximab: the CELIM randomised phase 2 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2010 Jan;11(1):38-47. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(09)70330-4. Epub 2009 Nov 26.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: November 1, 2004
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 8, 2005
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 8, 2005
• First Posted (Estimate): September 12, 2005

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): February 27, 2009
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 26, 2009
• Last Verified: April 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Chemotherapy; Cetuximab; Neoadjuvant; Irinotecan; Oxaliplatin; 5-FU; Resection; Liver resection
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Digestive System Diseases; Pathologic Processes; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Digestive System Neoplasms; Liver Diseases; Neoplastic Processes; Neoplasm Metastasis; Liver Neoplasms; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Enzyme Inhibitors; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; Antimetabolites; Antineoplastic Agents; Immunosuppressive Agents; Immunologic Factors; Protective Agents; Topoisomerase Inhibitors; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological; Micronutrients; Vitamins; Topoisomerase I Inhibitors; Antidotes; Vitamin B Complex; Hematinics; Fluorouracil; Oxaliplatin; Leucovorin; Irinotecan; Levoleucovorin; Folic Acid; Cetuximab
• Other Study ID Numbers: CELIM