Phase II study of lenvatinib for metastatic colorectal cancer refractory to standard chemotherapy: the LEMON study (NCCH1503)

BACKGROUND: Lenvatinib inhibits tyrosine kinases, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor, fibroblast growth factor receptor, platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha, RET proto-oncogene and KIT proto-oncogene, receptor tyrosine kinase. We assessed the efficacy and safety of lenvatinib in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer after failure of standard chemotherapies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was an open-label, single centre, single-arm, phase 2 study. Eligible patients had unresectable metastatic colorectal adenocarcinoma, refractory or intolerant to fluoropyrimidine, irinotecan, oxaliplatin, trifluridine/tipiracil, anti-VEGF therapy and anti-epidermal growth factor receptor therapy (for tumours with wild-type RAS). Patients were treated with oral lenvatinib at 24 mg one time a day in 28-day cycles until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint was centrally assessed disease control rate. Secondary endpoints included safety, response rate, progression-free survival and overall survival. The planned sample size was 30 patients to expect a disease control rate of 60% with a threshold disease control rate of 35%, one-sided alpha of 5% and power of 80% RESULTS: Between 24 October 2016 and 23 January 2018, 30 patients were enrolled; 11 (37%) and 19 (63%) had received 3 or ≥4 lines of prior chemotherapy for metastatic disease, respectively. The median number of lenvatinib cycles was 4 (range 1–13). The centrally assessed disease control rate was 70.0% (21/30, 90% CI 53.5% to 83.4%, one-sided p=0.0001); 2 patients had a partial response and 19 had a stable disease. Median progression-free survival was 3.6 months (95% CI 2.6 to 3.7). Median overall survival was 7.4 months (95% CI 6.4 to 10.8). The most common grade ≥3 adverse events were hypertension (53%), thrombocytopenia (10%), increased alanine aminotransferase and anorexia (7% each). CONCLUSIONS: Lenvatinib showed promising clinical activity and was tolerated in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer after failure of standard chemotherapies. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: UMIN-CTR, UMIN000023446 and JAMCCT-CTR, JMA-IIA00261.