Biomarker utilization in non-small cell lung cancer, are we treating after testing?

Authors

null

Elias Makhoul

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, West Hollywood, CA

Elias Makhoul , Jong Taek Kim , Wenjuan Zhang , Jean Raphael Lopategui , Ani Sarkis Balmanoukian , Eric Vail

Organizations

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, West Hollywood, CA, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA

Research Funding

No funding received
None

Background: Targeted therapy in EGFR and ALK mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been the standard of care for nearly a decade with subsequent FDA approvals for ROS1 and BRAF V600 mutated NSCLC occurring in 2016 and 2017. However, recent studies have shown suboptimal utilization of genomic profiling results in these patients. In 1 recent study of community oncologists, ~70% of EGFR/ALK+ patients received appropriate targeted therapy, while patients with other gene mutations (including BRAF and ROS1) only received targeted therapy ~30% of the time. Left unanswered was what patients were receiving instead and why. Additionally, it is unknown if this finding is generalizable to the academic setting. We aimed to investigate whether in our patient population, NSCLC patients with actionable mutations received associated FDA approved therapies and if not why. Methods: The pathology database was queried for all NSCLC with molecular testing (including qPCR, FISH and NGS) from 2009 to 2019. Patients with sensitizing EGFR, ALK, ROS1 or BRAF mutations that were detected after the first FDA approval for their respective targeted therapies were included for analysis with those lost to follow up subsequently excluded. Basic demographic and clinical variables were collected as well as treatment records. Results: 2160 NSCLC patients were evaluated (2160 EGFR, 1417 ALK, 810 ROS1, 589 BRAF). 468 patients were identified with targetable mutations (411 EGFR, 46 ALK, 5 ROS1, 6 BRAF). No patient had more than 1 targetable mutation. Of those patients, 248 were at an advanced stage and had clinical follow up (202 EGFR, 37 ALK, 4 ROS1, 5 BRAF). Of those patients 197/202 (97.5%), 33/37 (89.2%), 3/4 (75%) and 1/5 (20%) received EGFR, ALK, ROS1 or BRAF targeted therapy respectively. Across biomarkers 14/248 patients (5.6%) did not receive subsequent targeted therapy. 10 patients (5 EGFR, 3 ALK, 1 ROS1 and 1 BRAF) passed away before targeted therapy could be initiated. Physician choice and missed findings accounted for the remaining four cases. Conclusions: The vast majority of advanced NSCLC patients analyzed in this study received appropriate targeted therapy matched to genomic findings. The main reason (~4% of total cases) that patients did not receive therapy was due to rapidly progressive disease and death before it could be initiated. These findings are at odds with those published from the community setting. This may be due to multiple factors, including clinician education, ease of access to targeted therapies across patient populations and incomplete data in the previous study populations.

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2020 ASCO Virtual Scientific Program

Session Type

Poster Session

Session Title

Lung Cancer—Non-Small Cell Metastatic

Track

Lung Cancer

Sub Track

Metastatic Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer

Citation

J Clin Oncol 38: 2020 (suppl; abstr 9609)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2020.38.15_suppl.9609

Abstract #

9609

Poster Bd #

375

Abstract Disclosures