Dr. Kopetz on the Rationale for the BEACON CRC Study 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 rationale for the phase 3 BEACON CRC trial in BRAF V600E-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

BRAF V600E-mutated mCRC is associated with a poor prognosis, says Kopetz. Moreover, there was not an established standard of care for this subgroup of patients until recently.

The rationale for the BEACON CRC study, which evaluated the combination of encorafenib (Braftovi) and cetuximab (Erbitux) with or without binimetinib (Mektovi) versus standard chemotherapy, was based on the understanding that BRAF inhibitors alone do not elicit substantial tumor regression, explains Kopetz.

The goal of the study was to understand how to maximize BRAF pathway inhibition while intercepting mechanisms of resistance, concludes Kopetz.