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Analysis of institutional authors

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June 14, 2023
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Editorial Material

COLUMBUS 5-year update: a randomized, open-label, phase III trial of encorafenib plus binimetinib versus vemurafenib or encorafenib in patients with BRAF

Publicated to: Future Oncology. 19 (16): 1091-1098 - 2023-06-13 19(16), DOI: 10.2217/fon-2022-1258

Authors:

Dummer, R; Flaherty, KT; Robert, C; Arance, A; de Groot, JWB; Garbe, C; Gogas, HJ; Gutzmer, R; Krajsová, I; Liszkay, G; Loquai, C; Mandalà, M; Schadendorf, D; Yamazaki, N; di Pietro, A; Cantey-Kiser, J; Edwards, M; Ascierto, PA
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Affiliations

German Canc Consortium, Partner Site Essen - Author
Gustave Roussy & Paris Saclay Univ - Author
IDIBAPS - Author
Isala Oncol Ctr - Author
Isala Oncology Center, Zwolle, The Netherlands. - Author
Ist Nazl Tumori IRCCS Fdn Pascale - Author
Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS Fondazione Pascale, Napoli, Italy. - Author
Johannes Gutenberg Univ Mainz, Univ Med Ctr - Author
Massachusetts Gen Hosp - Author
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. - Author
National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. - Author
National Institute of Oncology, Budapest, Hungary. - Author
Natl & Kapodistrian Univ Athens - Author
Natl Canc Ctr - Author
Natl Inst Oncol - Author
Pfizer - Author
Pfizer, Milan, Italy. - Author
PharPoint Res - Author
Ruhr Univ Bochum, Minden Campus - Author
Univ Hosp Prague - Author
Univ Hosp Tubingen - Author
Univ Hosp Zurich - Author
Univ Perugia - Author
University Hospital Prague, Prague, Czech Republic. - Author
University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. - Author
University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. - Author
University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany. - Author
University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy. - Author
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Abstract

What is this summary about? Here, we summarize the 5-year results from part 1 of the COLUMBUS clinical study, which looked at the combination treatment of encorafenib plus binimetinib in people with a specific type of skin cancer called melanoma. Encorafenib (BRAFTOVI®) and binimetinib (MEKTOVI®) are medicines used to treat a type of melanoma that has a change in the BRAF gene, called advanced or metastatic BRAF V600-mutant melanoma. Participants with advanced or metastatic BRAF V600-mutant melanoma took either encorafenib plus binimetinib together (COMBO group), compared with encorafenib alone (ENCO group) or vemurafenib (ZELBORAF®) alone (VEMU group). What were the results? In this 5-year update, more participants in the COMBO group were alive for longer without their disease getting worse after 5 years than those in the VEMU and ENCO groups. Patients in the COMBO group were alive for longer without their disease getting worse when they: Had less advanced cancer Were able to do more daily activities Had normal lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels Had fewer organs with tumors before treatment After treatment, fewer participants in the COMBO group received additional anticancer treatment than participants in the VEMU and ENCO groups. The number of participants who reported severe side effects was similar for each treatment. The side effects caused by the drugs in the COMBO group decreased over time. What do the results mean? Overall, this 5-year update confirmed that people with BRAF V600-mutant melanoma that has spread to other parts of the body and who took encorafenib plus binimetinib were alive for longer without their disease getting worse than those who took vemurafenib or encorafenib alone. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT01909453 (ClinicalTrials.gov) [+]

Keywords

AdultAdvanced cancerAdverse drug reactionAgedAntineoplastic agentAntineoplastic combined chemotherapy protocolsArthralgiaB raf kinaseBinimetinibBraf geneBraf inhibitorBraf protein, humanBraf v600BraftoviCancer growthCancer stagingColumbusColumbus part 1Controlled studyCutaneous melanomaDiarrheaDrug-related side effects and adverse reactionsEcog performance statusEncorafenibFatigueFemaleGene mutationGeneticsHumanHumansLactate dehydrogenaseMajor clinical studyMaleMek inhibitorMektoviMelanomaMutationNauseaOpen studyPathologyPhase 3 clinical trialPlain language summaryProtein kinase inhibitorProtein kinase inhibitorsProto-oncogene proteins b-rafRandomized controlled trialReviewSkin neoplasmsSkin tumorTreatment durationUnclassified drugVemurafenibVery elderlyVomitingZelboraf

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Future Oncology due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2023, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Medicine (Miscellaneous).

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.45. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.11 (source consulted: FECYT Mar 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-13, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 8
  • Scopus: 8
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-13:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 18.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 21 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 3.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 5 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Czech Republic; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Italy; Japan; Netherlands; Peru; Switzerland; United States of America.

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