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CompletedNCT05775900Updated Sep 3, 2025

Efficacy and Safety of Triweekly Cetuximab in Combination With Capecitabine as First-line Maintenance Treatment for KRAS/BRAF Wild-type Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

A Phase 1/2 interventional study of Cetuximab and Capecitabine in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer, sponsored by Sun Yat-sen University. Completed at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-09-03.

Sponsored by Sun Yat-sen University · Phase 1/2, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 1/2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
24
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
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Study summary

To explore the safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetic (PK) characteristics of triweekly cetuximab in combination with capecitabine as first-line maintenance treatment for KRAS/BRAF wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer: a single-arm, a single-center, Phase 1b trial. Meanwhile, Exploring the maximum tolerant dose or recommended II research dose of triweekly cetuximab combined with a fixed dose of capecitabine using '3+3' dose climbing Phase I experiment.

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Conditions studied

  • Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Keywords

  • First-line Maintenance Therapy
  • Triweekly Cetuximab
  • KRAS/BRAF Wild-type
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In context

Colorectal Neoplasms

5,598 studies on the registry are indexed under Colorectal Neoplasms; 1,458 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 24 is below the median of 77 across 4,122 interventional studies indexed under Colorectal Neoplasms.

Browse Colorectal Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

Sun Yat-sen University is the lead sponsor of 1,644 studies on the registry; 602 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Provide a written informed consent form (ICF) before any research procedure is carried out.
  • Patients must be ≥18 years old and have an expected life span of at least 12 weeks when signing the ICF.
  • Patients have histologically or cytologically confirmed RAS and BRAF wild-type metastatic colorectal adenocarcinoma (mCRC), excluding appendiceal and anal cancers.
  • After being diagnosed with mCRC, patients have only received cetuximab combined with chemotherapy (FOLFOX or FOLFIRI) as first-line induction therapy. Imaging progression during adjuvant therapy or within 6 months after completion of adjuvant therapy is considered as first-line treatment.
  • Patients have completed 8 cycles of cetuximab combined with chemotherapy induction therapy and the disease is controlled (including CR/PR and SD).
  • There is at least one measurable metastatic lesion, defined as per RECIST version 1.1. Patients who have achieved CR without measurable lesions after induction therapy, and those who have achieved no evidence of disease (NED) through R0 resection, interventional ablation, or other local destructive therapies can be included in this study.
  • Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0-1.
  • Within 7 days before treatment, the following laboratory test values are obtained and appropriate organ function is present:

Hemoglobin ≥ 90g/L, neutrophil count ≥ 1.5 × 10\^9/L, platelet count ≥ 75 × 10\^9/L; Serum total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 × upper limit of normal (UNL); Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) or alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤ 2.5 × UNL; if there are liver metastases, AST or ALT ≤ 5 × UNL; Serum creatinine ≤ 1.5 × UNL.

  • Patients are not allowed to participate in other clinical trials during the study period.
  • Patients are willing and able to comply with the study protocol and visit plan.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Excluding adjuvant therapy that ended more than 9 months ago (including oxaliplatin-containing therapy) or more than 6 months ago (excluding oxaliplatin-containing therapy), any chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) other than induction therapy consisting of cetuximab in combination with FOLFOX or FOLFIRI.
  • Concurrent active malignancy, excluding malignancies with disease-free survival of 5 years or more or in situ carcinoma considered cured after adequate treatment.
  • Known brain metastases or leptomeningeal metastases. Patients with neurological symptoms should undergo brain CT/MRI to exclude metastases.
  • Any unresolved toxicities greater than or equal to Grade 2 per the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) caused by previous treatment, excluding alopecia, skin pigmentation, and anemia. Patients with unresolved neurotoxicity greater than or equal to CTCAE Grade 3 caused by platinum-based drugs should be excluded.
  • Ascites, pleural effusion, or pericardial effusion requiring drainage within the past 4 weeks.
  • Patients with bowel obstruction, gastrointestinal bleeding, pulmonary fibrosis or interstitial pneumonia, renal failure, liver failure, or cerebrovascular disease.
  • Uncontrolled diabetes, defined as HbA1c >7.5% after the use of antidiabetic drugs, or uncontrolled hypertension, defined as systolic/diastolic blood pressure >140/90mmHg after the use of antihypertensive drugs.
  • Myocardial infarction within the past 12 months, severe/unstable angina pectoris, or New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III or IV congestive heart failure symptoms.
  • A history of allergy to any study drugs (such as cetuximab or capecitabine).
  • Known infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) related diseases, hepatitis B or C.
  • Autoimmune diseases or a history of organ transplantation requiring immunosuppressive therapy.
  • Mental illness that may increase the risk associated with participation in the study or interfere with the interpretation of study results.
  • Received any of the following treatments within a specified time period prior to receiving the study drug:

Major surgery within 4 weeks (excluding diagnostic biopsy, surgical incision should be completely healed before administering the study drug).

Radiotherapy within 4 weeks. Other anti-tumor treatments or participation in other clinical trials within 4 weeks, except for induction therapy as specified in the protocol.

  • Pregnant (confirmed by serum human chorionic gonadotropin [hCG] test) or lactating women, or women of childbearing potential who plan to become pregnant during the treatment period and within 2 months after the end of cetuximab treatment, or within 6 months after the end of capecitabine treatment. Women of childbearing potential or sexually active men who are unwilling to use contraception during the study period and for at least 2 months after the end of cetuximab treatment, or 6 months after the end of capecitabine treatment. Postmenopausal women must have been amenorrheic for at least 12 months to be considered of non-childbearing potential.
  • Presence of any other serious illness that, in the investigator's opinion, would preclude the patient's participation in the study.
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Study design

Phase
Phase 1 / Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
24 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Cetuximab in Combination With Capecitabine

    Patients were given cetuximab (a '3+3' design was adopted in the experimental arm, with four dose levels of 400mg/m2, 500mg/m2, 600mg/m2 and 700mg/m2 for dose exploration) every 3 weeks (Q3W). Capecitabine, 1000mg/m2, twice a day (BID, once in the morning and once in the evening), 14 days of continuous oral administration followed by 7 days of rest. The two-drug combination therapy was continued every 3 weeks in a cycle until patients developed disease progression or met other criteria for termination of study treatment specified in the protocol.

    Drug: Cetuximab · Drug: Capecitabine

Interventions

  • DrugCetuximab

    Cetuximab will be given triweekly at a dose from 400mg/m2 to 700mg/m2.

    Also known as: Erbitux

  • DrugCapecitabine

    Capecitabine will be given 2 weeks on/1 week off (1000mg/m2 BID po.)

    Also known as: Capecitabine Tablets

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Safety variables (Incidence of Adverse Events [Safety and Tolerability])

    Safety variables will be summarized using descriptive statistics based on adverse events collection

    Time frame: 2 year

  2. Pharmacokinetic (PK) characteristics 1

    Evaluation Peak Concentration (Cmax) of cetuximab before and after Treatment.

    Time frame: 2 year

  3. Pharmacokinetic (PK) characteristics 2

    Evaluation Area Under the Curve (AUC0-t, AUC0-∞) of cetuximab before and after Treatment.

    Time frame: 2 year

Secondary outcomes

  1. Progression-free survival (PFS)

    The PFS is defined as the time from the start of treatment to the date of first documented PD or death as a result of any cause, whichever occurred first. When a patient was alive and without progression, PFS was censored at the date of the last disease assessment.

    Time frame: 2 year

  2. Overall Survival (OS)

    OS is defined as the time from date of randomization to death due to any cause. Subjects still alive at the time of analysis were censored at their last date of last contact.

    Time frame: 2 year

  3. Objective response rate (ORR)

    The percentage of subjects with total number of Complete Response (CR) + total number of Partial Response (PR).

    Time frame: 2 year

  4. Disease Control Rate (DCR)

    DCR is defined as the percentage of subjects whose best response was not Progressive Disease (PD) according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) (= total number of Complete Response (CR) + total number of Partial Response (PR) + total number of Stable Disease (SD); CR, PR, or SD had to be maintained for at least 28 days from the first demonstration of that rating)

    Time frame: 2 year

  5. Quality of Life (QOL)

    Evaluation of alterations in patients' quality of life throughout treatment by using the EORTC QLQ-CR29 and EORTC QLQ-CR30 quality of life questionnaire. Evaluation of the scores was based on the Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS). The reliability and validity of the questionnaires were assessed by Cronbach's α coefficient, the Spearman correlation test and Wilcoxon rank sum test.

    Time frame: 2 year

Other outcomes

  1. Treatment-emergent genetic mutations

    Assessment of the correlation between mutation status of relevant genes and treatment response through ctDNA testing.

    Time frame: 2 year

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Study locations

1 site
  • The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University
    Guangzhou, Guangdong 510655, China
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References and documents

Publications

  • Xie X, Lin Z, Li W, Xie Y, Zhang J, Hu H, Li S, Zhai X, Shi L, Deng Y. Cetuximab plus capecitabine every three weeks as first-line maintenance therapy for RAS/BRAF wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer: a phase Ib dose-escalation study. NPJ Precis Oncol. 2026 Apr 24;10(1):250. doi: 10.1038/s41698-026-01429-7. PubMed 42032138 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 3, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05775900
Lead sponsor
Sun Yat-sen University
Responsible party
Yanhong Deng (Director of Medical Oncology, Clinical Professor, Sun Yat-sen University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Mar 20, 2023
Start date
Feb 1, 2023
Primary completion
Jul 31, 2025
Completion
Aug 26, 2025
Last update
Sep 3, 2025

Study contacts

Yanhong Deng, Ph.D
principal investigator · Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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