Dr. Cohen Discusses the Cabozantinib EXAM Trial

Ezra Cohen, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Chicago, discusses the phase III EXAM trial that investigated the multikinase inhibitor cabozantinib (XL184) in patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma.

The trial enrolled 330 patients and randomized them 2:1 to receive either cabozantinib or placebo. For those receiving the active agent, the progression-free survival (PFS) was prolonged by 7.2 months, from 4 months in the placebo arm to 11.2 months in the investigational arm. Additionally, the overall response rate for the patients receiving cabozantinib was 28% compared to 0% in the placebo arm.

Various groups of patients were enrolled on the trial, including those who had previously received tyrosine kinase inhibitors, such as vandetanib or sunitinib. Cohen notes that the pretreated patients also demonstrated improvement over the placebo arm.

Cohen adds that he is optimistic that the positive results from the EXAM trial will lead to cabozantinib’s approval in the near future.