Prospective study of a molecular selection profile for RAS wild type colorectal cancer patients receiving irinotecan-cetuximab

BACKGROUND: The aim of our study was to evaluate whether a panel of biomarkers, prospectively analysed might be able to predict patients' clinical outcome more accurately than RAS status alone. METHODS: K-RAS (exons 2, 3, 4) wild type colorectal cancer patients, candidates to second/third-line cetuximab with chemotherapy were prospectively allocated into 2 groups on the basis of their profile: favourable (BRAF and PIK3CA exon 20 wild type, EGFR GCN ≥ 2.6, HER-3 Rajkumar score ≤ 8, IGF-1 immunostaining < 2) or unfavourable (any of the previous markers altered or mutated). After the introduction of N-RAS status (exons 2, 3, 4) only RAS wild type patients were considered eligible. Primary aim was response rate (RR). To detect a difference in terms of RR among patients with an unfavourable profile (estimated around 25%) and patients with a favourable profile (estimated around 60%), with a probability alpha of 0.05 and beta of 0.05, required sample size was 46 patients. Secondary endpoints were progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: Forty-six patients were enrolled. Seventeen patients (37%) were allocated to the favourable and 29 patients (63%) to the unfavourable profile. RR in the favourable and unfavourable group was 11/17 (65%) and 2/29 (7%) (p = 0.007) respectively. The favourable group also showed an improved PFS (8 months vs. 3 months, p < 0.0001) and OS (15 months vs. 6 months, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that prospective selection of optimal candidates for cetuximab treatment is feasible and may be able to improve clinical outcome.