A phase II study of ERK inhibition by ulixertinib (BVD-523) in metastatic uveal melanoma.

Abstract

10036 Background: Uveal melanoma is a rare and aggressive subset of melanoma that is minimally responsive to traditional therapies. Greater than 80% of uveal melanomas have a mutation in GNAQ or GNA11 which lead to downstream signaling through the MAPK pathway. This has led to efforts to treat uveal melanoma with MEK inhibition with mixed results. Ulixertinib (BVD-523) is a potent and reversible small molecule ATP-competitive inhibitor of both ERK1 and ERK2 protein kinases which has undergone phase I testing. Methods: We performed a phase II study to determine the efficacy and safety of BVD-523 in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma. This was conducted as a Simon two-stage design with a total sample size of 25 patients (pts) and an initial evaluation of efficacy after 13 pts. Two responses were required to continue to the second stage. Results: From April 2018 to April 2019 thirteen pts were enrolled. Pts were predominantly female (69%) with a median age of 64 yrs. (34 -76). Sites of metastasis included liver (84.6%) and lung (30.8%). Grade 3 and 4 toxicities associated with therapy were consistent with BVD-523 and other ERK inhibitors and included LFT elevation, hyponatremia, pruritis, amylase elevation, anemia and rash. The best response, per RECIST 1.1, was stable disease (SD) in 4 pts, and disease progression (PD) in 7 patients. Two patients were unevaluable for response due to withdrawing themselves from the study. Median time to progression was 2.0 months (90% CI: 1.8 – 3.6 mos.). There were eight deaths due to disease progression with a median survival time of 6.9 months (90%CI: 3.2 to 8.3 mos.). Analysis of correlative data from pre- and on-treatment biopsies exploring the change in expression of key signaling proteins relating to treatment is underway. Conclusions: ERK inhibition with ulixertinib (BVD-523) did not demonstrate activity in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma. The toxicities observed on study were consistent with what would be expected with MAPK pathway inhibition. Clinical trial information: NCT03417739.