Allied therapies against BRAF-mutated advanced colon cancer: the right plans to win the battle

摘要

In the era of molecular therapies, various targets in different pathways were identified and specific agents were developed with acceptable efficacy rates. BRAF, one of these targets from the family of MAPK, is mutated in different malignancies: melanomas, thyroid cancers, hairy cell leukemia, lung cancer and colorectal cancer [1]. Targeting this mutation with anti-BRAF agents showed interesting response rates in BRAF-mutated melanomas, thyroid cancers and hairy cell leukemia; however their outcomes were disappointing in this subgroup of colorectal cancers [2]. Thus, vemurafenib (anti-BRAF) was first approved as single-agent therapy in BRAF-mutated unresectable and meta-static melanoma; then, the combination of vemurafenib and trametinib (anti-MEK) showed better results than single agent in the same indication and was approved by the US FDA as a standard of care [3,4].