Rechallenge With Panitumumab Driven by RAS Dynamic of Resistance (CHRONOS)

A Phase II Trial of Rechallenge With Panitumumab Driven by RAS Clonal-mediated Dynamic of Resistance

This is a hypothesis driven, open label, single-arm, multiple centers, Phase II trial. The trial has been designed to prove or disprove whether a rechallenge with panitumumab can achieve an objective response rate (ORR= CR+PR) of 30% or more in a population of RAS wild type mCRC patients selected on the basis of RAS extended clonal evolution in their plasma.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Colorectal Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Diagnostic test: Molecular Screening; Drug: Panitumumab 20 MG/ML Intravenous Solution [VECTIBIX]

Detailed Description

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the world and the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States and the European Union. In the last decade, substantial advances in the treatment of the metastatic disease (mCRC) have more than doubled overall survival (OS) from 12 months to 30 months due to the refinement of fluoropirimidine-based chemotherapy and the introduction of antiangiogenics and targeted therapies.

Pharmacologic blockade of the epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) with specific monoclonal antibodies, namely, cetuximab and panitumumab, represents the mainstay of tumour targeted therapy for mCRC in patients with tumors not harboring extended RAS pathway mutations (KRAS, NRAS, or BRAF). Such alterations, which constitutively activate typical EGFR downstream transducers, have been shown to trigger substitute survival pathways that bypass therapeutic blockade of EGFR signalling, thus abating the efficacy of anti-EGFR antibodies ("primary resistance"). Even when response to anti-EGFR therapy occurs in the context of appropriate molecular selection, acquired ("secondary") resistance inevitably arises in all cases. Our group has extensively studied this phenomenon and has shown that extended-RAS alterations are the principal culprit of anti EGFR acquired resistance, and that altered RAS clones decay upon anti-EGFR treatment withdrawal, while tumor cells regain sensitivity to anti EGFR treatment. We have also documented that ctDNA profiles of individuals who benefit from multiple challenges with anti-EGFR antibodies, exhibit pulsatile levels of mutant KRAS. Collectively, these results indicate that the CRC genome adapts dynamically to intermittent anti-EGFR drug schedules, and provide a molecular explanation for the efficacy of re-challenge therapies based on EGFR blockade. Our results also give experimental support to the empirical-based clinical benefit observed, following cetuximab or panitumumab rechallenge in two small series of originally KRAS exon 2 wild type mCRC patients.

We propose to assess the efficacy and safety of re-challenging with panitumumab RAS-extend wild type mCRC patients with ctDNA-confirmed secondary resistance to anti EGFR treatment, after progression on second or further lines chemotherapy. As proof-of-concept, patients will be blood monitored throughout their therapeutic itinerary for the presence of extended-RAS alterations and EGFR-ectodomain mutations by ctDNA determination (liquid biopsy). We also include in our ddPCR panel 7 different EGFR extracellular domain (ECD) mutations as they occur in 15-20% of patients who acquired resistance to anti-EGFR drugs.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 32
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Italy
  • Candiolo, Italy, 10060
    • Fondazione del Piemonte per l'Oncologia - IRCCS
  • Milano, Italy
    • Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda
  • Padova, Italy, 35128
    • Istituto Oncologico Veneto - IRCCS
  • Via Giacomo Venezian, 1
    • Milano, Via Giacomo Venezian, 1, Italy, 20133
      • Istituto Nazionale Tumori - IRCCS

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

1. Histologically confirmed diagnosis of metastatic colorectal cancer;
2. Age ≥ 18 years;
3. Written informed consent;
4. Documented WT RAS exons 2, 3 and 4 (KRas and NRas) and WT BRAF V600E for anti-EGFR treatment.
5. Complete or partial response to anti EGFR antibodies in any line either received as monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy;
6. Imaging documented progression while on therapy with a therapeutic regimen including anti-EGFR mAb;
7. Imaging documented progression at the last treatment regimen that must be anti-EGFR free;
8. Patient must be RAS and EGFR ectodomain wild type in a liquid biopsy performed no longer that 4 weeks after progression to the last anti-EGFR free treatment
9. FFPE sample used for eligibility to anti-EGFR prescription (see criteria 4) must be available for custom gene panel profiling (as described in appendix B). Otherwise if sample is not available, center must have already perfomed a genotyping on this tissue sample according to appendix B.
10. ECOG performance status ≤ 2;
11. At least one measurable tumor lesion as per RECIST v1.1. Lesions in previously irradiated areas or those that have received other loco-regional therapies (i.e. percutaneous ablation) should not be considered measurable unless there is clear documented evidence of progression of the lesion since therapy. Imaging must be performed maximum within 28 days prior to registration;
12. Normal organ functions;
13. Negative serum pregnancy test within 1 week prior to the first study dose in all women of childbearing potential;
14. Subjects and their partners must be willing to avoid pregnancy during the trial. Male subjects with female partners of childbearing potential and female subjects of childbearing potential must, therefore, be willing to use adequate contraception;
15. Absence of any psychological, familial, sociological or geographical condition potentially hampering compliance with the study protocol and follow-up schedule; those conditions should be discussed with the patient before registration in the trial.

Exclusion Criteria

1. History of severe infusion reactions to monoclonal antibodies cetuximab or panitumumab;
2. Symptomatic or untreated leptomeningeal disease and symptomatic brain metastasis;

3. Clinically significant cardiac disease including:

   1. congestive heart failure requiring treatment (NYHA grade ≥ 2), Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 45% as determined by Multigated acquisition (MUGA) scan or echocardiogram;
   2. history or presence of clinically significant ventricular arrhythmias or atrial fibrillation;
   3. clinically significant resting bradycardia;
   4. unstable angina pectoris ≤ 3 months prior to starting study drug;
   5. acute myocardial infarction ≤ 3 months prior to starting study drug;
   6. QTcF > 480 msec;
4. History of thromboembolic or cerebrovascular events within the last 6 months, including transient ischemic attack, cerebrovascular accident, deep vein thrombosis, or pulmonary embolism;
5. Patients with interstitial pneumonitis or pulmonary fibrosis;

6. Abnormal organ or bone marrow functions defined as:

   1. Absolute neutrophil count < 1.5 x 10/L;
   2. hemoglobin < 9 g/dL;
   3. alkaline phosphatase > 2.5 x upper normal limit (ULN), if liver metastases > 5 x ULN;
   4. aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/ alanine aminotransferase (ALT) > 2.5 x ULN, if liver metastases > 5 x ULN;
   5. bilirubin > 1.5 x ULN, if liver metastases > 2 x ULN;
   6. serum creatinine > 1.5 x ULN and/or creatinine clearance ≤ 50 mL/min calculated according to Cockroft-Gault;
   7. Patients with platelet count <100 x 10^9/L
7. Previous or concurrent second malignancy. Exceptions: adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer; in situ carcinoma of the cervix, treated curatively and without evidence of recurrence for at least 3 years prior to study entry; or other solid tumor treated curatively and without evidence of recurrence for at least 3 years prior to study entry.
8. Patients with positive serology for HIV, HBV, HCV.
9. Patients with a history of severe or life threatening hypersensitivity to the active substance or to any of the excipients.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Screening Phase; Patiens will be first enrolled in a Molecular Screening (MS) Phase to determine the "molecular eligibility" of the patients for third line panitumumab re-challenge. During MS phase, patients will be liquid biopsied (LB) at different check-points (BML which is optional, Basal Mutational Load and RML which is mandatory, Rechallenge Mutational Load) and their ctDNA tested by ddPCR to monitor the presence of RAS and EGFR ECD altered clones. Patients with no RAS and EGFR ECD mutations in the RML will be declared "molecularly eligible" for the Trial Phase.	Diagnostic test: Molecular Screening; Patients without plasmatic evidence of potentially resistant clones harbouring RAS or EGFR-ectodomain mutations in the RML liquid biopsy, will be molecular eligible for the trial phase; Other Names: RML Liquid Biopsies analysis
Experimental: Trial Phase; Patients resulting "molecularly eligible" at the RML (Rechallenge Mutational Load) checkpoint, upon Informed Consent signature and having satisfied all other eligibility criteria, will be treated with panitumumab monotherapy at standard dose until documented radiological progression or unacceptable toxicity or any other reason whichever comes first.	Drug: Panitumumab 20 MG/ML Intravenous Solution [VECTIBIX]; Panitumumab 6 mg/kg in 100 cc 0.9% NaCl solution on Day 1 every two weeks by IV administration over 1 hour.; Other Names: VECTIBIX

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Overall response rate (ORR) to panitumumab according to RECIST v1.1.	Main objective of the study is the evaluation of objective response rate according to RECIST 1.1 criteria	Tumor assessments every 8 weeks from date of enrollment until the date of first documented progression or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 48 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Progression Free Survival	PFS is defined as the time from first treatment to the time of disease progression	every 2 weeks from date of enrollment until the date of first documented progression or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 48 months
Overall Survival	OS is defined as the length of time from the start of treatment to death from any cause	every 2 weeks from date of enrollment until the date of first documented progression or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 48 months
Toxicity according to CTCAE version 4.03.	Toxicity will be assessed using the Common Toxicity Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.03 (CTCAE).	every 2 weeks from date of enrollment until the date of first documented progression or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 48 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Fondazione del Piemonte per l'Oncologia
• Investigators: Study Chair: Salvatore Siena, MD, Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda - Milano; Study Chair: Alberto Bardelli, MD, Fondazione del Piemonte per l'Oncologia; Study Chair: Silvia Marsoni, MD, Fondazione del Piemonte per l'Oncologia

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Sartore-Bianchi A, Pietrantonio F, Lonardi S, Mussolin B, Rua F, Crisafulli G, Bartolini A, Fenocchio E, Amatu A, Manca P, Bergamo F, Tosi F, Mauri G, Ambrosini M, Daniel F, Torri V, Vanzulli A, Regge D, Cappello G, Marchio C, Berrino E, Sapino A, Marsoni S, Siena S, Bardelli A. Circulating tumor DNA to guide rechallenge with panitumumab in metastatic colorectal cancer: the phase 2 CHRONOS trial. Nat Med. 2022 Aug;28(8):1612-1618. doi: 10.1038/s41591-022-01886-0. Epub 2022 Aug 1.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 11, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 6, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): December 31, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 18, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 21, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): July 24, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 25, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 22, 2022
• Last Verified: August 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: EGFR; Panitumumab; RAS; Clonal evolution
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Digestive System Diseases; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Digestive System Neoplasms; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Colonic Diseases; Intestinal Diseases; Intestinal Neoplasms; Rectal Diseases; Colorectal Neoplasms; Antineoplastic Agents; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological; Panitumumab
• Other Study ID Numbers: 013-IRCC-10IIS-16; 2016-002597-12 (EudraCT Number)

Drug and device information, study documents

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