ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT06949982x-МАРUpdated May 4, 2025

Efficacy And Safety Of Hydroxychloroquine Combined With Methotrexate, Capecitabine And Bevacizumab Vs. Regorafenib In Participants With Refractory Metastatic Colorectal Cancer With Mutations In RAS Genes

A Phase 2 interventional study of experimental group x-MAP and Regorafenib (BAY 73-4506) in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (mCRC) and Colorectal Neoplasms, sponsored by Sergey Orlov, MD. Recruiting at 1 site in Russian Federation. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-05-04.

Sponsored by Sergey Orlov, MD · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Mar 2025; still recruiting 1 year 7 months later.
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
60
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study will evaluate efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine combined with methotrexate, capecitabine and bevacizumab versus regorafenib in participants with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer with mutations in KRAS or NRAS genes. The hypotheses of this study are that a combination of hydroxychloroquine, methotrexate, capecitabine, and bevacizumab (compared to regorafenib) prolongs progression-free survival and overall survival, and also increases rates of objective responses and disease control.

Read the detailed description

One potential therapeutic option for pretreated patients with RAS-positive metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) could be hydroxychloroquine. The KRAS mutation drives uncontrolled proliferation and cell survival through pathways such as MAPK/ERK and PI3K/AKT. The pathways in KRAS-mutant tumor cells activate autophagy to recycle cellular components and sustain growth under stress conditions, such as hypoxia or nutrient deprivation. Autophagy serves as a pro-survival mechanism, enabling tumor cells to resist intrinsic stressors and treatment, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Hydroxychloroquine inhibits autophagy by blocking the fusion of autophagosomes with lysosomes. This results in the accumulation of damaged organelles and toxic metabolites within the cell, ultimately triggering apoptosis. Suppressing autophagy may also disrupt tumor cell metabolism by increasing oxidative stress. In experimental models, KRAS-mutant tumors demonstrated enhanced sensitivity to autophagy inhibitors such as hydroxychloroquine. In murine studies, combining hydroxychloroquine with chemotherapy or MAPK pathway inhibitors, such as trametinib, augmented antitumor efficacy. Multiple studies have reported that hydroxychloroquine achieves rapid objective responses when combined with targeted therapy or chemotherapy. However, rapid development of acquired resistance remains a challenge.

Methotrexate and capecitabine may be considered as options for overcoming acquired resistance to hydroxychloroquine. KRAS-mutant tumors frequently exhibit defects in DNA repair systems. Methotrexate inhibits thymidylate synthesis, causing accumulation of DNA damage, especially uracil misincorporation, which leads to "thymidylate-induced stress" and cell death. Cells with mutations in the KRAS gene may have increased expression of folate transporters, such as RFC or FPGS, making them more sensetive to antifolates such as methotrexate. This increases intracellular drug accumulation and cytotoxic effects. Preclinical studies have shown that exposure to methotrexate in tumor cells with KRAS mutations significantly decreases mRNA expression of the KRAS gene and total levels of KRAS protein. When combined with fluoropyrimidines like capecitabine, methotrexate may enhance suppression of DNA synthesis, which is a critical vulnerability in KRAS-mutant tumors.

Capecitabine increases the sensitivity of KRAS-positive tumors to TRAIL-induced apoptosis, a process that may be amplified by hydroxychloroquine exposure. Bevacizumab can be used to improve the delivery of chemotherapy drugs to tumor cells by increasing drug concentration within the tumor through lowering vascular permeability.

02

Conditions studied

  • Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (mCRC)
  • Colorectal Neoplasms

Keywords

  • Refractory metastatic colorectal cancer
  • Hydroxychloroquine
  • Regorafenib
  • KRAS mutation
  • NRAS mutation
03

In context

Colorectal Neoplasms

6,541 studies on the registry are indexed under Colorectal Neoplasms; 1,667 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 60 is below the median of 76 across 4,800 interventional studies indexed under Colorectal Neoplasms.

Browse Colorectal Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

This is the only study on the registry with Sergey Orlov, MD as lead sponsor.

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

04

Who can participate

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

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • (ECOG) performance status of 0-1
  • Provide written
  • Age ≥ 18 years
  • confirmed diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) with distant .
  • Presence of mutations in the KRAS or NRAS gene.
  • Participants must have previously treated for metastatic colorectal cancer and experienced disease progression during receiving at least 2 in combination with antiangiogenic agents.
  • Patient has previously received oxaliplatin- and irinotecan-containing regimens and developed resistance to these chemotherapeutic agents.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Presence of cardiovascular disease: severe or unstable ischemic heart disease, history of myocardial infarction, Class III/IV congestive heart failure, ventricular arrhythmias.
  • Stroke and/or within 6 months prior to screening;
  • Uncontrolled hypertension
  • History of previous except non-melanoma skin cancers, or in situ cervical or breast cancer unless a complete remission was achieved at least 2 years prior to randomization AND no additional therapy is required during the study period. Patients having hepatic involvement of cancer should be excluded as per investigator assessment.
  • Patients with are eligible only if the are adequately treated.
  • (ANC) \<1.5×109/L, count \<100×109/L, or \<9.0 g/dL.
  • Serum total >1.5 × the (ULN). Participants with Gilbert syndrome, bilirubin \<2 X ULN, and normal /ALT are eligible;
  • Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) >3 × ULN;
  • Serum creatinine >1.5 × ULN.
  • History of a thromboembolic event
  • Presence of any allergic reactions to components of the study drugs
  • Concomitant medications with a known risk of causing and/or Torsades de Pointes.
  • Any anti-cancer systemic therapy, radiation therapy
  • Women who are pregnant or lactating;
  • Presence of unresolved adverse events of grade 2 or higher toxicity, according to v5.0 criteria, from prior therapy (except for alopecia or neurotoxicity grade≤2).
  • Any other serious or uncontrolled medical disorder, active infection, physical examination finding, laboratory finding, altered mental status, or psychiatric condition that, in the opinion of the investigator, would limit a patient's ability to comply with the study requirements, substantially increase risk to the patient, or impact the interpretability of study results.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(18)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

ECOG performance status

A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.

0
Fully active, no restrictions.
1
Limited in strenuous activity, but walking and able to do light work, such as housework or office work.
2
Walking and able to look after yourself, but unable to work; up and about more than half of waking hours.
3
Able to look after yourself only in part; in bed or a chair more than half of waking hours.
4
Unable to look after yourself at all; in bed or a chair all day.

Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Histologically or cytologically confirmed

The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).

Your pathology report is the document that shows this.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

Line of therapy

A line of therapy is one course of treatment, which may combine several drugs. First-line is the first course given; second-line follows when that stops working or is not tolerated.

“Two prior lines” means two courses that count separately under the study’s rules — not simply two drugs. Ask the study team if you are unsure how yours are counted.

Clinically significant

Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.

NYHA class (heart failure)

The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.

I
No limits: ordinary activity causes no undue tiredness or breathlessness.
II
Slight limits: comfortable at rest, ordinary activity causes symptoms.
III
Marked limits: comfortable at rest, less than ordinary activity causes symptoms.
IV
Symptoms even at rest; any activity makes them worse.

Studies set their own limit — many outside heart failure leave out class III–IV, while heart failure studies may ask for a particular class. Check the class this study names.

TIA (transient ischaemic attack)

A “mini-stroke”: temporary stroke-like symptoms caused by reduced blood flow to part of the brain, spinal cord or eye, without signs of a new stroke on a scan.

Stroke symptoms need emergency care at once, even if they go away.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

Brain metastases

Cancer deposits in the brain from a cancer that started elsewhere in the body (CNS metastases include the spinal cord).

Studies differ: some leave out any brain metastases, some accept ones treated and stable for some weeks. Check what this study allows.

Absolute neutrophil count (ANC)

The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.

It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (µL). Each lab has its own reference range.

Platelets

Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.

Hemoglobin (Hb)

The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).

Bilirubin

A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.

Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.

ULN (upper limit of normal)

The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.

“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

QT and QTc

On an ECG, the QT interval is the time the heart’s lower chambers take to activate electrically and recover in each beat. QTc is that time adjusted for heart rate (QTcF by Fridericia’s formula, QTcB by Bazett’s). Some medicines lengthen it, and a long QTc can raise the risk of a dangerous heart rhythm.

The study may name a correction formula and a limit in milliseconds, often around 450–480.

CTCAE grade

The US National Cancer Institute’s scale of how severe an adverse event is — any unwanted medical event during a study, such as a symptom, an illness or an abnormal test result, whether or not a treatment caused it. Whether it did is judged separately.

1
Mild.
2
Moderate.
3
Severe.
4
Life-threatening.
5
Death due to the event.

“Side effects of earlier treatment resolved to grade 1 or less” means they have settled to mild or gone.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
60 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    experimental group x-MAP

    This patient cohort will receive systemic therapy with the x-MAP regimen (hydroxychloroquine + methotrexate + capecitabine + bevacizumab) until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

    Combination Product: experimental group x-MAP

  • Active comparator
    comparator arm

    This group of patients will receive systemic therapy (regorafenib) according to local standards.

    Drug: Regorafenib (BAY 73-4506)

Interventions

  • Combination productexperimental group x-MAP

    hydroxychloroquine 200 mg TID PO+ methotrexate 2.5 mg BID twice a week PO+ capecitabine 1000 mg/m2 PO BID for 14 days+ bevacizumab 7.5 mg/m2 IV on day 1, every 3 weeks.

  • Regorafenib 160 mg PO daily on days 1-21, every 28 days OR 1st cycle: Regorafenib 80 mg PO daily on days 1-7, followed by 120 mg PO daily on days 8-14, followed by 160 mg PO daily on days 15-21, every 28 days, 2nd and subsequent cycles: Regorafenib 160 mg PO daily on days 1-21, every 28 days

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Objective Response Rate (ORR) Per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors Version 1.1 (RECIST 1.1)

    objective response rate (ORR) was defined as the proportion of participants whose best overall outcome included a confirmed complete response (CR) or partial response (PR), assessed by the investigator using RECIST version 1.1 criteria. PR corresponds to a minimum 30% reduction in the total diameter of target lesions compared to the baseline measurements. CR indicates the total disappearance of all identified target lesions. Additionally, any pathological lymph nodes (classified as target or non-target) must shrink to a short axis measurement below 10 millimeters (mm).

    Time frame: From randomization until the first documentation of best overall response (up to 24 months)

  2. Progression-free Survival (PFS) Per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors Version 1.1 (RECIST 1.1)

    Progression-free survival (PFS) was defined as the time from randomization to the initial occurrence of documented disease progression (PD) or death from any cause, whichever occurs earlier. According to RECIST 1.1 criteria, PD was characterized by at least a 20% enlargement in the total diameter of target lesions compared to the smallest sum recorded during the study, along with an absolute increase of 5 mm or more. The development of any new lesions was also classified as PD.

    Time frame: From randomization until the first documentation of objective progression or death, whichever comes first (up to 24 months)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Overall Survival (OS)

    Overall survival (OS) was measured as the duration (in months) from date of randomization to death resulting from any cause. Participants who had not experienced death by the time of data analysis were censored at their most recent confirmed date of survival.

    Time frame: From randomization until the first documentation of objective progression or death, whichever comes first (up to 24 months)

  2. Disease Control Rate (DCR) Per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors Version 1.1 (RECIST 1.1)

    DCR defined as the proportion of participants with confirmed complete response (CR), partial response (PR), or stable disease (SD) as their best overall response, assessed using RECIST version 1.1 criteria for both target and non-target lesions. PR: A reduction of at least 30% in the total diameter of target lesions relative to the initial baseline measurements. CR: The complete resolution of all identified target lesions. Pathological lymph nodes (target or non-target) must also exhibit a short axis reduction to under 10 mm. SD: Lesions showing neither sufficient shrinkage to meet PR criteria nor sufficient growth to qualify as progressive disease (PD), using the smallest total lesion size recorded during the study as the reference point. PD: Defined as a minimum 20% increase in the total diameter of target lesions compared to the lowest recorded measurement (nadir), which must also include an absolute increase of ≥5 mm. The emergence of new lesions also constitutes PD.

    Time frame: From randomization until the first documentation of objective progression or death, whichever comes first (up to 24 months)

  3. Duration of Response (DOR) Per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors Version 1.1 (RECIST 1.1)

    DOR was measured as the time (in months) from the initial documentation of a partial response (PR) or complete response (CR) according to RECIST version 1.1 criteria until the first confirmed instance of disease progression (PD) or death from any cause, whichever occurred earlier.

    Time frame: From randomization until the first documentation of objective progression or death, whichever comes first (up to 24 months)

  4. Number of Participants With Treatment-emergent Adverse Events (TEAEs) and Serious TEAEs

    An adverse event (AE) refers to any unfavorable or unintended medical event experienced by a participant in a clinical trial involving a medicinal product, regardless of whether it is causally linked to the treatment. A treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE) was defined as an AE that: began on or after the start of treatment, had an unspecified onset date, existed prior to treatment but worsened in severity after treatment initiation, continuing until 30 days after the final dose of the study drug or the start of subsequent anti-tumor therapy (whichever occurred first). Additionally, serious adverse events (SAEs) deemed treatment-related were classified as TEAEs even if they occurred after this 30-day period. AEs with missing or unreported onset dates were also categorized as TEAEs. Adverse events were graded using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5.0.

    Time frame: From start of study drug administration up to approximately 38 months

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • First Pavlov State Medical University
    St. Petersburg, 197022, Russian Federation
    Recruiting
    • Aram A. Musaelyan, PhD · Contacta.musaelyan8@gmail.com · +79990263455
    • Sergey V. Orlov, Professor · Principal investigator
    • Aram A. Musaelyan, PhD · Sub investigator
    • Egor P. Dykin, MD · Sub investigator
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 4, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06949982
Lead sponsor
Sergey Orlov, MD
Responsible party
Sergey Orlov, MD (Principal investigator, Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Apr 29, 2025
Start date
Mar 17, 2025
Primary completion
Apr 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Oct 2027 (estimated)
Last update
May 4, 2025

Study contacts

Sergey V. Orlov, Professor
Contact
orloff-sv@mail.ru
+79811957915
Aram A. Musaelyan, PhD
Contact
a.musaelyan8@gmail.com
+79990263455

Oversight

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

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