Vemurafenib, Cetuximab, and Irinotecan Hydrochloride in Treating Patients With Solid Tumors That Are Metastatic or That Cannot Be Removed by Surgery

A Phase I Trial of Vemurafenib in Combination With Cetuximab and Irinotecan in Patients With BRAF V600 Mutant Advanced Solid Malignancies

This phase I trial studies the side effects and best dose of vemurafenib when given together with cetuximab and irinotecan hydrochloride in treating patients with solid tumors that have spread to other parts of the body or cannot be removed by surgery. Vemurafenib and irinotecan hydrochloride may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as cetuximab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving vemurafenib with cetuximab and irinotecan hydrochloride may be a better treatment for solid tumors.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Stage IV Colorectal Cancer AJCC v7; Stage IVA Colorectal Cancer AJCC v7; Stage IVB Colorectal Cancer AJCC v7; Metastatic Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Unresectable Solid Neoplasm; BRAF NP_004324.2:p.V600X; KRAS wt Allele
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Laboratory Biomarker Analysis; Other: Pharmacological Study; Drug: Vemurafenib; Biological: Cetuximab; Drug: Irinotecan Hydrochloride

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To define the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of vemurafenib when used in combination with cetuximab and irinotecan (irinotecan hydrochloride).

II. To define the safety profile of this combination. III. To determine the antitumor activity of this combination specifically in patients with advanced solid malignancies with positive v-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B (BRAF) (V600)/negative Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (K-RAS) mutation. (Part II-expanded cohort) IV. To determine the antitumor activity of this combination in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer with positive BRAF (V600)/negative K-RAS mutation. (Part II-expanded cohort)

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To evaluate clinical response signals of the combination. II. To assess the pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) profile of the combination.

OUTLINE: This is a dose-escalation study of vemurafenib.

Patients receive vemurafenib orally (PO) twice daily (BID) on days 1-14, cetuximab intravenously (IV) over 90 minutes, and irinotecan hydrochloride IV over 90 minutes on day 1. Courses repeat every 14 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 30 days.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 47
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Texas
    • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
      • M D Anderson Cancer Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients must have histologically confirmed malignancy that is metastatic or unresectable
• Cancers with positive BRAF V600 mutation detected by a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA)-certified laboratory
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 to 2
• Life expectancy of greater than 3 months
• Patients must have measurable disease per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) 1.1 criteria
• Patients must have a K-RAS wild-type (WT) tumor
• Absolute neutrophils count >= 1500/mcl (within 14 days)
• Platelets >= 100000/mcl (within 14 days)
• Hemoglobin (Hb) >= 9 mg/dl (within 14 days)
• Total bilirubin =< 1.5 mg/dl (within 14 days)
• Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) =< 5 x upper limit of normal if liver metastases present; otherwise, then =< 2.5 x upper limit (within 14 days)
• Estimated creatinine clearance by Cockcroft-Gault equation > 30 mL/min (within 14 days)
• Current treatment may cause harm to the developing human fetus; for this reason women of child-bearing age must have a negative pregnancy test at screening and both women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation, and for 6 months after last dose; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while she or her partner is participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately
• Signed informed consent approved by the Institutional Review Board prior to patient entry
• Expansion cohort: We propose a final expansion cohort for this study in a subset of interest utilizing the recommended dosing of combination; this cohort will include patients harboring characteristics that may predict response of combination or with clinical features that proved to derive most benefit of the study combination during preclinical studies; cancers with positive BRAF (V600) mutation detected by a CLIA-certified laboratory

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patient receiving any concurrent chemotherapy
• Concurrent severe and/or uncontrolled medical disease including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection requiring intravenous antibiotics, bowel obstruction
• Symptomatic congestive heart failure (New York Heart Association [NYHA] class III or IV), or unstable angina pectoris
• Patients who have had a myocardial infarction, transient ischemic attack, unstable angina, or cardiovascular symptoms (CVS) within 6 months before treatment
• Presence of symptomatic pleural and/or pericardial effusion not appropriately treated
• Prolonged corrected QT (QTc) interval (>= 450 msec) as calculated by Bazett's formula, or patients with a history of congenital long QT syndrome or uncorrectable electrolyte abnormalities
• Medical and/or psychiatric problems of sufficient severity to limit full compliance with the study or expose patients to undue risk
• Known anaphylactic or severe hypersensitivity to the study drugs or their analogs
• Patient has failed to recover from any prior surgery within 4 weeks of study entry
• Patient is pregnant, lactating, or breastfeeding
• Patient has had any treatment specific for tumor control within 3 weeks of dosing with investigational drugs and cytotoxic agents, or within 2 weeks of cytotoxic agent given weekly, or within 6 weeks of nitrosoureas or mitomycin C, or within 5 half-lives of biological targeted agents with half-lives and pharmacodynamic effects lasting less than 5 days
• Patient is not able to swallow oral medication
• Patients receiving any medications or substances that are strong inhibitors or inducers of cytochrome P450, family 3, subfamily A, polypeptide 4 (CYP3A4) complex are ineligible
• Patients with known K-RAS mutant (codon 12 or 13) detected by a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test in a CLIA-certified laboratory
• Patients with BRAF WT cancers

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Treatment (vemurafenib, cetuximab, irinotecan hydrochloride); Patients receive vemurafenib PO BID on days 1-14, cetuximab IV over 90 minutes, and irinotecan hydrochloride IV over 90 minutes on day 1. Courses repeat every 14 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Other: Laboratory Biomarker Analysis; Correlative studies; Other: Pharmacological Study; Correlative studies; Drug: Vemurafenib; Given PO; Other Names: BRAF (V600E) kinase inhibitor RO5185426; BRAF(V600E) Kinase Inhibitor RO5185426; PLX-4032; PLX4032; RG 7204; RG7204; RO 5185426; Zelboraf; Biological: Cetuximab; Given IV; Other Names: Erbitux; IMC-C225; Cetuximab Biosimilar CMAB009; Chimeric Anti-EGFR Monoclonal Antibody; Chimeric MoAb C225; Chimeric Monoclonal Antibody C225; Drug: Irinotecan Hydrochloride; Given IV; Other Names: Campto; Camptosar; U-101440E; CPT-11; Camptothecin 11; Camptothecin-11; CPT 11; Irinomedac

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Maximum tolerated dose of vemurafenib defined as the highest dose studied in which the incidence of dose limiting toxicity was less than 33% as graded by the National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria version 4.0	Descriptive statistics will be provided on the grade and type of toxicity by dose level.	Up to 4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
• Collaborators: National Cancer Institute (NCI); Genentech, Inc.
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: David S Hong, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Hong DS, Morris VK, El Osta B, Sorokin AV, Janku F, Fu S, Overman MJ, Piha-Paul S, Subbiah V, Kee B, Tsimberidou AM, Fogelman D, Bellido J, Shureiqi I, Huang H, Atkins J, Tarcic G, Sommer N, Lanman R, Meric-Bernstam F, Kopetz S. Phase IB Study of Vemurafenib in Combination with Irinotecan and Cetuximab in Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer with BRAFV600E Mutation. Cancer Discov. 2016 Dec;6(12):1352-1365. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-16-0050. Epub 2016 Oct 11.

Helpful Links

• University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Website

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 15, 2013
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 19, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): January 19, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 6, 2013
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 6, 2013
• First Posted (Estimated): February 8, 2013

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 23, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 20, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Intestinal Diseases; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Digestive System Neoplasms; Digestive System Diseases; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Intestinal Neoplasms; Rectal Diseases; Colonic Diseases; Neoplastic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Colorectal Neoplasms; Neoplasm Metastasis; Noonan syndrome 3; Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins; Proteins; Sulfur Compounds; Organic Chemicals; Heterocyclic Compounds; Heterocyclic Compounds, 2-Ring; Heterocyclic Compounds, Fused-Ring; Camptothecin; Alkaloids; Amides; Indoles; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Antibodies; Immunoglobulins; Immunoproteins; Blood Proteins; Serum Globulins; Globulins; Sulfonamides; Sulfones; Irinotecan; Cetuximab; Vemurafenib
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2012-0748 (Other Identifier: M D Anderson Cancer Center); P30CA016672 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); NCI-2013-00541 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program)); R01CA187238 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No