LCCC 1128: Open Label Phase II Trial of the BRAF Inhibitor (Dabrafenib) and the MEK Inhibitor (Trametinib) in Unresectable Stage III and Stage IV BRAF Mutant Melanoma; Correlation of Resistance With the Kinome and Functional Mutations

This phase II study in 20 patients with BRAFV600E mutant, unresectable stage III/IV melanoma is designed to explore the mechanisms by which tumors acquire resistance to the combination of a BRAF inhibitor (dabrafenib) and MEK inhibitor (trametinib). Tissue will be collected at baseline and at progression.If a subject is removed from the study for one of a variety of reasons including, but not limited to, an inability to tolerate the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib, a need to receive other therapy or completion of 3-years of study treatment without progression, and the subject later receives, as part of his/her standard of care, the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib and progresses on the standard of care regimen, then the subject may be contacted by the treating physician to be put back on to the LCCC 1128 protocol and have a progression biopsy at this progression time point. Markers of resistance will be explored by performing near kinome-wide profiling on tumor samples, and in patients who co-enroll in institutional protocol LCCC1108, by sequencing tumors using NextGen DNA sequencing technology. Overall response rate and duration to this combination will also be assessed.