Novartis today announced the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for Tafinlar® (dabrafenib) + Mekinist® (trametinib) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients 6 years of age and older with unresectable or metastatic solid tumors with BRAF V600E mutation who have progressed following prior treatment and have no satisfactory alternative treatment options.

...- Known positive RAS (NRAS or KRAS or HRAS) or BRAFV600E or K601E mutation (determined on a previous analysis and/or on a representative formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tumor samples sent for central testing or on a biopsy sample sent for central testing)....

...- All patients will be previously or simultaneously enrolled in the natural history ECD protocol #11-HG-0207, "Clinical and Basic Investigations into Erdheim Chester disease"; eligible patients must have been diagnosed with Erdheim Chester disease, confirmed by pathological evaluation of the affected tissue with adequate staining; affected tissue must harbor the BRAF V600E or V600K mutation - Patients must have measurable disease, defined as at least one lesion that can be accurately measured in at least one dimension (longest diameter to be recorded for non-nodal lesions and short axis for nodal lesions) as >= 20 mm with conventional techniques or as >= 10 mm with spiral CT scan, MRI, or calipers by clinical exam - Prior treatment, involving interferon, anakinra, imatinib, steroids, chemotherapy with, but vinblastine, 6-mercaptopurine and etoposide, or other medications used empirically for the treatment of ECD, will be acceptable; these therapies should have been completed and discontinued 4 weeks or more prior to enrollment in this study - Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =< 2 (Karnofsky >= 60%) - Life expectancy of greater than 3 months - Able to swallow and retain oral medication and must - Patients must have BRAFV600E or BRAFV600K mutations, identified by a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test at a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-certified lab; if test at CLIA-certified lab used a non-FDA approved method, information about the assay must be provided; (FDA approved tests for BRAF V600 mutations in melanoma include: THxID BRAF Detection Kit and Cobas 4800 BRAF V600 Mutation Test) - Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) >= 1.2 x 10^9/L - Hemoglobin >= 9 g/dL - Platelets >= 100 x 10^9/L - Albumin >= 2.5 g/dL - Serum bilirubin =< 1.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (ULN) except subjects with known Gilbert's syndrome - Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) =< 2.5 x institutional ULN - Serum creatinine =< 1.5 mg/dL OR calculated creatinine clearance (Cockcroft-Gault formula) >= 50 mL/min - Prothrombin time (PT)/international normalized ratio (INR) and partial thromboplastin time (PTT) =< 1.3 x institutional ULN; subjects receiving anticoagulation treatment may be allowed to participate with INR established within the therapeutic range prior to randomization - Left ventricular ejection fraction >= institutional lower limit of normal (LLN) by echocardiogram (ECHO) - Women of childbearing potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test within 14 days prior to registration or randomization - Women of child-bearing potential must agree to use adequate contraception (barrier method of birth control, or abstinence; hormonal contraception is and for at least 2 weeks after treatment with dabrafenib or for 4 months after dabrafenib in combination with trametinib; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while she is participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately - Therapeutic level dosing of warfarin can be used with close monitoring of PT/INR by the site; exposure may be decreased due to enzyme induction when on treatment, thus warfarin dosing may need to be adjusted based upon PT/INR; consequently, when discontinuing dabrafenib, warfarin exposure may be increased and thus close monitoring via PT/INR and warfarin dose adjustments must be made as clinically appropriate; prophylactic low dose warfarin may be given to maintain central catheter patency - Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document ...

...- Histologically confirmed acral lentiginous or cutaneous melanoma that is either Stage IIIC (unresectable) or Stage IV (metastatic), and BRAF V600 mutation-positive....

...- Histologically or cytologically confirmed Stage IV or unresectable Stage III BRAF V600E or BRAF V600K mutant melanoma - BRAF mutation must be determined by FDA approved BRAF mutation detection assay - BRAFV600 mutant status must be documented by a CLIA-certified laboratory - CT scan of neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis within 28 days prior to registration - A whole body PET/CT scan with diagnostic quality images and intravenous iodinated contrast may be used in lieu of a contrast enhanced CT of the neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis within 28 days prior to registration. ...

...- BRAF mutation-positive melanoma (V600E or V600K) based on report from a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certified laboratory...

...- Patients must have histologically or cytologically confirmed stage IV or unresectable stage III BRAF V600E or BRAF V600K mutant melanoma...

...- BRAF (proto-oncogene B-Raf) V600E/K mutation-positive confirmed by a local laboratory....

...Histologically confirmed cutaneous melanoma that is either Stage IIIc (unresectable) or Stage IV (metastatic), and determined to be BRAF V600E/K mutation-positive by the central laboratory....

...- positive anaplastic thyroid cancer, determined by immunohistochemistry for the presence of the BRAF V600E mutation in tumor tissue, genetic/molecular testing of the tumor, or by liquid biopsy of circulating DNA to determine the presence of the BRAF V600E mutation (if the histological examination is...

...- Histologically or cytologically confirmed diagnosis of Stage IV NSCLC (according to AJCC 8th edition) that is BRAF V600E mutation-positive by local test result from a qualified assay (NMPA and/or MOH-approved)...

...- Presence of a BRAF V600E mutation in lung cancer tissue....

...- Patient must have BRAF V600E or BRAF V600K tumor genotype based on a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA) approved assay...

...- Patients must have histologically confirmed melanoma unresectable Stage III or Stage IV positive for BRAF V600E, V600K, V600R or V600D by a CLIA approved assay....

...- Part 1 and Part 2: Histologically- or cytologically-confirmed diagnosis of advanced or metastatic BRAF V600E mutation positive CRC...

...- Signed written informed consent - Recheck the results of histological studies and paraffin blocks - Histologically confirmed cutaneous melanoma that is either Stage IIIc (unresectable) or Stage IV (metastatic), and determined to be BRAF V600E or V600K mutation-positive by the local laboratory. ...

...to participate in this study: Age ≥18 years Signed written informed consent Histologically confirmed V600E or V600K BRAF mutant melanoma Unresectable Stage III/IV melanoma ECOG PS 0-2...

In conclusion, combination treatment with dabrafenib plus trametinib showed meaningful clinical activity in patients with BRAFV600E-mutated rare cancers and was approved in the United States as a therapeutic option in patients with advanced, rare solid tumors with BRAFV600E mutations.

Patients received dabrafenib 150 mg twice per day and trametinib 2 mg per day continuously until disease progression or intolerable toxicity...The median overall survival was 28.6 months. Reported adverse events were comparable to those noted in previously reported profiles of dabrafenib and trametinib....study met its primary end point, with an ORR of 38% (P < .0001) in this mixed histology, pretreated cohort.