Study to Identify Biomarkers of Clinical Response to Aflibercept in Patients With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

This is a Phase II multi-center exploratory study to identify biomarkers predictive of clinical response to aflibercept in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have failed first-line therapy, consisting of an oxaliplatin-containing regimen in combination with bevacizumab. Patients will consent to a needle core biopsy of a liver metastatic lesion prior to starting treatment. This study will be open primarily at sites conducting the Q-CROC-01 study (NCT00984048), in which colorectal cancer patients receiving standard first-line treatment undergo a biopsy of a liver metastatic lesion before treatment and at resistance. The post-first-line treatment biopsy will be used as the pre-treatment biopsy for this trial. For patients not participating in the Q-CROC-01 study, patients will be required to undergo a liver needle core biopsy of a metastatic lesion before study treatment. Biopsies and blood samples will be collected from all study patients. An exploratory pharmacoeconomic analysis will be performed to evaluate productivity loss, quality of life and resource utilization while on treatment with aflibercept. A total of 52 patients will be enrolled, primarily at centers participating in the Q-CROC-01 study. The trial will close enrolment when 42 evaluable pre-treatment tumor biopsy samples have been obtained. Accrual of the total patient population is estimated to take 24-36 months with the estimated start date being February 2014.