A study to learn how well the combination of encorafenib and binimetinib works and how safe it is in adults with thyroid cancer: a plain language summary

What is this summary about?
This is a summary of a publication about a clinical study that was published in the journal Thyroid in April 2024. The study included 22 adults with metastatic thyroid cancer who have a certain change (mutation) in a gene called BRAF. This mutation is called BRAF-V600E. The researchers wanted to know if a combination of 2 drugs called encorafenib and binimetinib could help to treat participants who had this type of cancer.
What are the key results?
12 out of 22 participants (54.5%) had their cancer respond to a combination of encorafenib and binimetinib. Cancer ‘responding’ means that it shrank by at least 30% or disappeared. The researchers estimated that about 90% of participants who responded to treatment had their cancer continue to respond for a year or more.
New medical problems that happened during the study matched what was already known about the combination of encorafenib and binimetinib. The most common new medical problem that participants had during this study was nausea.
20 out of 22 participants (90.9%) had possible side effects related to encorafenib or binimetinib.
None of the participants in this study had a new medical problem that was life-threatening.

12 out of 22 participants (54.5%) had their cancer respond to a combination of encorafenib and binimetinib. Cancer ‘responding’ means that it shrank by at least 30% or disappeared. The researchers estimated that about 90% of participants who responded to treatment had their cancer continue to respond for a year or more.
New medical problems that happened during the study matched what was already known about the combination of encorafenib and binimetinib. The most common new medical problem that participants had during this study was nausea.
20 out of 22 participants (90.9%) had possible side effects related to encorafenib or binimetinib.
None of the participants in this study had a new medical problem that was life-threatening.
What are the main conclusions reported by the researchers?
Researchers think that a combination of encorafenib and binimetinib could be an effective treatment option for some people who have metastatic thyroid cancer with a BRAF-V600E mutation and are not suitable for curative treatment.
Clinical trial number: jRCT2011200018
A PDF version of this infographic is available as supplemental material.