OBJECTIVES:
Primary
* To determine the percentage of patients with k-ras mutant, advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer who are free from progression and alive after 12.5 weeks following the first dose of cetuximab in combination with simvastatin.
Secondary
* To determine the correlation between overall response rate, progression-free survival, overall survival, and safety with skin toxicity and efficacy.
* To determine the predictive value of PTEN, PIK3CA, b-raf, and ERK and MEK status. (exploratory)
* To determine the predictive value of SNPs, proteomics, and circulating DNA. (exploratory)
* To evaluate cholesterol, proteomics, and circulating DNA as biomarkers in this setting. (exploratory)
OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.
Patients receive cetuximab IV weekly and oral simvastatin once daily on days 1-7. Courses repeat every 7 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.
Blood samples are collected for laboratory studies at baseline, during study, and after completion of study.
After completion of study therapy, patients are followed up for 30 days.
