Phase I Study of Cetuximab With RO4929097 in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

The purpose of this study is to determine if a new drug, RO4929097, can work with cetuximab, a drug already approved for colorectal cancer, to help fight the patient’s cancer. Cancers arise as a result of abnormal control of gene expression. One of the pathways that gets abnormally regulated in some cancers is the Notch pathway. RO4929097 is an investigational drug that blocks the activation of the Notch pathway. It is hoped that by blocking this abnormal activation, this drug may be helpful in patients with cancer but the investigators do not yet know if that is true. Cetuximab is an antibody against epidermal growth factor receptor and is known to have activity in metastatic colorectal cancer. Recent studies have shown that people with colorectal cancers that contain a mutation in a gene called K-ras do not benefit from receiving cetuximab. It is unknown if adding RO4929097 to cetuximab would benefit patients who have tumors with this mutation.