This trial began as a multi-center, randomized, Phase III, controlled trial for nilotinib vs (DTIC) dacarbazine to assess the efficacy and safety of nilotinib (400 mg bid) in patients with c-Kit mutated metastatic and/or inoperable melanoma. The study was open to patients with mucosal or acral melanoma.~Due to substantial difficulties identifying and recruiting eligible patients, the trial design was altered from a randomized, two-arm, Phase III study to a single-arm, Simon two-stage Phase II study with protocol Amendment 2 (27-Jul-2011). While the original protocol required the recruitment of 120 patients, this amendment required the study to recruit only 41 patients (patients randomized to nilotinib prior to Amendment 2 were to be counted in this total, but those randomized to dacarbazine ( DTIC ) DTIC were not). Patients randomized to DTIC were allowed to cross-over to nilotinib, either immediately or at the time of progression.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether nilotinib is efficacious in the treatment of metastatic and/or inoperable melanoma harboring a c-Kit mutation.