The most common side effects include diarrhea, rash, nausea (feeling sick), vomiting, pyrexia (fever), photosensitivity (light sensitivity) reaction, abnormal results for certain liver function tests (increased levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase) and abnormal results for an enzyme related to muscle breakdown (creatine phosphokinase).[5]
Cobimetinib was approved for medical use in the United States in November 2015.[9][10][11]
Medical use
In the United Stated, cobimetinib is indicated for the treatment of adults with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAF V600E or V600K mutation, in combination with vemurafenib.[2] It is also indicated for the treatment of adults with histiocytic neoplasms.[2]
In the European Union, cobimetinib is indicated for use in combination with vemurafenib for the treatment of adults with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAF V600 mutation.[5]
Adverse effects
Common adverse effects observed in cobimetinib and vemurafenib co-treated persons in clinical trials included diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, rash, photosensitivity, and pyrexia.[12]
In phase III clinical trials, the combination of cobimetinib and vemurafenib was tested in participants with BRAFV600-mutated metastatic melanoma, which resulted in significant improvement in progression-free survival in participants, but also produced some increase in toxicity. The combination increased progression-free survival to an average of 12.3 months, compared to 7.2 months for vemurafenib alone. This clinical data also showed that the combination treatment resulted in 65% survival rate of participants 17 months after beginning the treatment, increased rates from the 50% of participants on vemurafenib treatment alone. Adding cobimetinib also increased the median overall survival to 25.6 months, compared to the 18 months for vemurafenib alone.[15][12]
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved cobimetinib based on evidence from one clinical trial of 495 participants with melanoma containing the BRAF V600 mutation that was advanced or could not be removed by surgery. The trial was conducted at 133 sites in 19 countries including those in North America, Europe, and Australia.[10]
Research
Pre-clinical investigation suggests that combined use of cobimetinib with PI3K inhibition might boost the anti-cancer effects of cobimetinib.[16][17]
^ abc"Cotellic EPAR". European Medicines Agency. 17 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2021. Text was copied from this source which is copyright European Medicines Agency. Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged.
^Choo E, Takahashi R, Rooney I, Gates M, Deng A, Musib L (30 January 2014). "Abstract B160: Assessing Human Absorption, Metabolism, Routes of Excretion and the Contribution of Intestinal Metabolism to the Oral Clearance of Cobimetinib, a MEK Inhibitor". Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. 12 (11 Supplement): B160. doi:10.1158/1535-7163.TARG-13-B160.
^Heavey S, O'Byrne KJ, Gately K (April 2014). "Strategies for co-targeting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in NSCLC". Cancer Treatment Reviews. 40 (3): 445–456. doi:10.1016/j.ctrv.2013.08.006. PMID24055012.