Binimetinib is a targeted cancer medicine. It is usually taken together with encorafenib. This combination is used for cancers driven by certain BRAF gene changes.
Brand Name(s)
- United States: Mektovi
- Canada: Mektovi
Warning(s)
Read these points before and during treatment. Ask your care team if anything is unclear.
- Tell all your health care providers that you take binimetinib. This includes doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and dentists.
- You will take binimetinib with encorafenib. Learn the warnings, benefits, and risks of both medicines.
- Serious bleeding can happen and can be life-threatening. Watch for vomiting or coughing up blood, black or tarry stools, blood in urine, unusual bruising, or bleeding that will not stop.
- High blood pressure can occur. Your blood pressure will be checked regularly.
- Heart problems, including heart failure, can happen. Tell your care team right away if you have new or worsening shortness of breath, cough, ankle or leg swelling, fast or irregular heartbeat, sudden weight gain, dizziness, or fainting.
- Blood clots may happen. Call your care team if you have chest pain, coughing up blood, sudden shortness of breath, or swelling and pain in an arm or leg.
- Serious eye problems, sometimes leading to vision loss, can occur. You will need eye exams. Call right away if you have blurred vision, changes in vision, color dots or halos, or if bright lights bother you.
- Liver problems can happen. Tell your care team about dark urine, yellowing of the skin or eyes, severe tiredness, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, or light-colored stools.
- Electrolyte problems can occur. Report confusion, mood changes, muscle cramps or weakness, shaking, loss of balance, seizures, or loss of appetite.
- Lung or breathing problems may happen. Report cough, fever, or shortness of breath.
- This medicine may raise the chance of getting some other cancers. Your skin should be checked regularly. Tell your care team about any new or changing moles, warts, sores, or bumps that bleed or do not heal.
- Drug interactions are possible. Tell your care team about all medicines you take, including prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, and herbal products. Do not start or stop medicines unless your care team approves.
- Pregnancy and birth control: Binimetinib can harm an unborn baby. You may need a pregnancy test before starting. If you can become pregnant, use birth control while taking this drug and for 30 days after your last dose. If your sex partner can become pregnant, you may need birth control while taking this drug and for up to 1 week after your last dose. Tell your care team right away if you become pregnant.
- Do not breastfeed during treatment and for 3 days after the last dose.
- You will need regular blood tests, heart tests, and eye exams while on this medicine.
Kind of Cancers It Is Used For (not a complete list)
- Melanoma (a type of skin cancer) that has spread or cannot be removed by surgery, and has a BRAF V600E or V600K mutation. Used with encorafenib.
- Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has spread and has a BRAF V600E mutation. Used with encorafenib.
Your care team will test your tumor to check for the BRAF mutation before starting this treatment.
Mechanism of Action
Binimetinib is a MEK inhibitor. MEK is part of the MAPK pathway, which helps cancer cells grow when the BRAF gene is abnormally active.
By blocking MEK1 and MEK2, binimetinib slows signals that tell cancer cells to grow. When used with encorafenib (a BRAF inhibitor), the pathway is blocked at two steps, which may help control cancers driven by BRAF mutations.
Common Side Effects
Not everyone has side effects. Many are mild to moderate and improve over time. Tell your care team if side effects are severe, do not go away, or worry you.
- Dizziness, tiredness, or weakness
- Stomach or belly pain
- Weight gain
- Joint pain
- Constipation, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, or upset stomach
This is not a full list of side effects. Serious symptoms listed in the Warning(s) section need urgent medical attention.
Look binimetinib online at Medline
Last reviewed: 2025-12-15
