Dr. Kopetz on the Design of the BEACON CRC Trial in BRAF V600E-Mutant mCRC

Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, FACP, associate professor, Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the design of the phase 3 BEACON CRC trial in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

In the multicenter, randomized, open-label, 3-arm BEACON CRC study, patients with BRAF V600E-mutant mCRC who progressed on 1 ​to 2 prior lines of therapy were randomized 1:1:1 to receive encorafenib (Braftovi) ​plus binimetinib (Mektovi) and cetuximab (Erbitux), encorafenib and cetuximab ​alone, or investigator's choice of cetuximab plus irinotecan or FOLFIRI, says Kopetz.

Initial results demonstrated encouraging clinical activity with ​the triplet regimen, Kopetz says. Encorafenib/binimetinib/cetuximab improve​d overall survival (OS) and overall response rates (ORR) ​compared with the cetuximab plus irinotecan-containing regimens.

The latest findings, which were presented during the 2020 ASCO Virtual Scientific Program, showed that the benefit in OS and ORR was maintained ​with the triplet compared with the control regimens, Kopetz concludes.