CBX-12 for the Treatment of Metastatic Chemotherapy-Refractory Microsatellite Stable Colorectal Cancer

Inclusion Criteria

• •Patients must have histologically or cytologically confirmed metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) that is mismatch repair proficient (pMMR) based on local testing performed in a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA) lab
• •Patients must have measurable disease, defined as at least one lesion that can be accurately measured in at least one dimension (longest diameter to be recorded for non-nodal lesions and short axis for nodal lesions) as \>= 20 mm (\>= 2 cm) by chest x-ray or as \>= 10 mm (\>= 1 cm) with CT scan, MRI, or calipers by clinical exam
• •Potential trial participants should have recovered from clinically significant adverse events of their most recent therapy/intervention prior to enrollment, with no Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version (v)5.0 toxicity of grade 3 or higher at the time of enrollment
• •Availability of archival tumor tissue at the time of patient enrollment for molecular profiling studies
• •Patients must have progressed on or been intolerant to at least 2 lines of prior therapies:
• •* Have progressed on or intolerant of standard therapies, including a fluoropyrimidine (5-fluorouracil or capecitabine), oxaliplatin, irinotecan, and VEGF inhibitor (bevacizumab or biosimilar).
• •* If left-sided primary and RAS/RAF wild-type, then have progressed on or intolerant of EGFR inhibitor (cetuximab or panitumumab).
• •* If BRAF V600 mutation, then have progressed on or intolerant of BRAF inhibitor (encorafenib).
• •Age \>= 18 years. Because no dosing or adverse event data are currently available on the use of CBX-12 in patients \<18 years of age, children are excluded from this study
• •Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =\< 1 (Karnofsky \>= 70%)
• •Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,000/mcL
• •Platelets \>= 100,000/mcL
• •Hemoglobin \>= 8.0 g/dL
• •Total bilirubin =\< 1.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (ULN)
• •Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)(serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\])/ alanine aminotransferase (ALT)(serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase \[SGPT\]) =\< 3 × institutional ULN
• •Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) \>= 60 mL/min/1.73 m\^2
• •Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients on effective anti-retroviral therapy with undetectable viral load within 6 months are eligible for this trial
• •For patients with evidence of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, the HBV viral load must be undetectable on suppressive therapy, if indicated
• •Patients with a prior or concurrent malignancy whose natural history or treatment does not have the potential to interfere with the safety or efficacy assessment of the investigational regimen are eligible for this trial
• •Patients with known history or current symptoms of cardiac disease, or history of treatment with cardiotoxic agents, should have a clinical risk assessment of cardiac function using the New York Heart Association Functional Classification. To be eligible for this trial, patients should be class II or better
• •Patients are willing and able to undergo pre- and on-treatment biopsies (first 10 patients in stage 1 only)
• •The effects of CBX-12 on the developing human fetus are unknown. For this reason and because topoisomerase 1 inhibitors are known to be teratogenic, women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry, for the duration of study participation, and 6 months after the last dose of study medication. Should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while she or her partner is participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately. Men treated or enrolled on this protocol must also agree to use adequate contraception prior to the study, for the duration of study participation, and 4 months after completion of CBX-12 administration
• •Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document. Legally authorized representatives may sign and give informed consent on behalf of study participants