To evaluate the efficacy of pemetrexed plus cisplatin versus vinorelbine plus cisplatin as postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with pathologic stage II-IIIA nonsquamous non-small-cell ...lung cancer (NSCLC).
We performed a randomized, open-label, phase III study at 50 institutions within 7 clinical study groups in Japan. Patients with completely resected pathologic stage II-IIIA (TNM 7th edition) nonsquamous NSCLC were randomly assigned to receive either pemetrexed (500 mg/m
, day 1) plus cisplatin (75 mg/m
, day 1) or vinorelbine (25 mg/m
, days 1 and 8) plus cisplatin (80 mg/m
, day 1) with stratification by sex, age, pathologic stage,
mutation, and institution. These treatments were planned to be given every 3 weeks for 4 cycles. The primary end point was recurrence-free survival in the modified intent-to-treat population, excluding ineligible patients.
Between March 2012 and August 2016, 804 patients were enrolled (402 assigned to vinorelbine plus cisplatin and 402 assigned to pemetrexed plus cisplatin). Of 784 eligible patients, 410 (52%) had stage IIIA disease and 192 (24%) had
-sensitive mutations. At a median follow-up of 45.2 months, median recurrence-free survival was 37.3 months for vinorelbine plus cisplatin and 38.9 months for pemetrexed plus cisplatin, with a hazard ratio of 0.98 (95% CI, 0.81 to 1.20; 1-sided
= .474). Grade 3-4 toxicities reported more frequently for vinorelbine plus cisplatin than for pemetrexed plus cisplatin were febrile neutropenia (11.6%
0.3%, respectively), neutropenia (81.1%
22.7%, respectively), and anemia (9.3%
2.8%, respectively). One treatment-related death occurred in each arm.
Although this study failed to show the superiority of pemetrexed plus cisplatin for patients with resected nonsquamous NSCLC, this regimen showed a better tolerability as adjuvant chemotherapy.
We report the intracranial efficacy of selpercatinib, a highly potent and selective RET inhibitor, approved in the United States for
fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC).
In the global ...phase 1/2 LIBRETTO-001 trial (NCT03157128) in advanced
-altered solid tumors, selpercatinib was dosed orally (160 mg twice every day) in 28-day cycles. Patients with baseline intracranial metastases had MRI/CT scans every 8 weeks for 1 year (12 weeks thereafter). In this pre-planned analysis of patients with
fusion-positive NSCLC with baseline intracranial metastases, the primary endpoint was independently assessed intracranial objective response rate (ORR) per RECIST 1.1. Secondary endpoints included intracranial disease control rate, intracranial duration of response, and intracranial progression-free survival (PFS) independently reviewed.
Eighty patients with NSCLC had brain metastases at baseline. Patients were heavily pretreated (median = 2 systemic therapies, range = 0-10); 56% of patients received ≥1 course of intracranial radiation (14% whole brain radiotherapy, 45% stereotactic radiosurgery). Among 22 patients with measurable intracranial disease at baseline, intracranial ORR was 82% 95% confidence interval (CI), 60-95, including 23% with complete responses. Among all intracranial responders (measurable and nonmeasurable,
= 38), median duration of intracranial response was not reached (95% CI, 9.3-NE) at a median duration of follow-up of 9.5 months (IQR = 5.7, 12.0). At 12 months, 55% of intracranial responses were ongoing. In all 80 patients, median intracranial PFS was 13.7 months (95% CI, 10.9-NE) at a median duration of follow-up of 11.0 months (IQR = 7.4, 16.5). No new safety signals were revealed in patients with brain metastases compared with the full NSCLC trial population.
Selpercatinib has robust and durable intracranial efficacy in patients with
fusion-positive NSCLC.
Genotyping of EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) mutations is indispensable for making therapeutic decisions regarding whether to use EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) for lung cancer. ...Because some cases might pose challenges for biopsy, noninvasive genotyping of EGFR in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) would be beneficial for lung cancer treatment.
We developed a detection system for EGFR mutations in ctDNA by use of deep sequencing of plasma DNA. Mutations were searched in >100 000 reads obtained from each exon region. Parameters corresponding to the limit of detection and limit of quantification were used as the thresholds for mutation detection. We conducted a multi-institute prospective study to evaluate the detection system, enrolling 288 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.
In evaluating the performance of the detection system, we used the genotyping results from biopsy samples as a comparator: diagnostic sensitivity for exon 19 deletions, 50.9% (95% CI 37.9%-63.9%); diagnostic specificity for exon 19 deletions, 98.0% (88.5%-100%); sensitivity for the L858R mutation, 51.9% (38.7%-64.9%); and specificity for L858R, 94.1% (83.5%-98.6%). The overall sensitivities were as follows: all cases, 54.4% (44.8%-63.7%); stages IA-IIIA, 22.2% (11.5%-38.3%); and stages IIIB-IV, 72.7% (60.9%-82.1%).
Deep sequencing of plasma DNA can be used for genotyping of EGFR in lung cancer patients. In particular, the high specificity of the system may enable a direct recommendation for EGFR-TKI on the basis of positive results with plasma DNA. Because sensitivity was low in early-stage NSCLC, the detection system is preferred for stage IIIB-IV NSCLC.
Lung cancer is one of the most aggressive tumour types. Targeted therapies stratified by oncogenic drivers have substantially improved therapeutic outcomes in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer ...(NSCLC)
. However, such oncogenic drivers are not found in 25-40% of cases of lung adenocarcinoma, the most common histological subtype of NSCLC
. Here we identify a novel fusion transcript of CLIP1 and LTK using whole-transcriptome sequencing in a multi-institutional genome screening platform (LC-SCRUM-Asia, UMIN000036871). The CLIP1-LTK fusion was present in 0.4% of NSCLCs and was mutually exclusive with other known oncogenic drivers. We show that kinase activity of the CLIP1-LTK fusion protein is constitutively activated and has transformation potential. Treatment of Ba/F3 cells expressing CLIP1-LTK with lorlatinib, an ALK inhibitor, inhibited CLIP1-LTK kinase activity, suppressed proliferation and induced apoptosis. One patient with NSCLC harbouring the CLIP1-LTK fusion showed a good clinical response to lorlatinib treatment. To our knowledge, this is the first description of LTK alterations with oncogenic activity in cancers. These results identify the CLIP1-LTK fusion as a target in NSCLC that could be treated with lorlatinib.
To verify the superiority of irinotecan plus cisplatin over etoposide plus cisplatin as postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with pathologic stage I-IIIA, completely resected, high-grade ...neuroendocrine carcinoma (HGNEC) of the lung.
This was a randomized, open-label, phase III study on patients with completely resected stage I-IIIA HGNEC of the lung. They were randomly assigned to receive either etoposide (100 mg/m
, days 1-3) plus cisplatin (80 mg/m
, day 1) or irinotecan (60 mg/m
, days 1, 8, 15) plus cisplatin (60 mg/m
, day 1) up to four cycles. The primary end point was relapse-free survival (RFS) in the intention-to-treat population. This trial was registered with the Japan Registry of Clinical Trials (jRCTs031180216).
Between April 2013 and October 2018, 221 patients were enrolled (etoposide plus cisplatin arm, 111 patients; irinotecan plus cisplatin arm, 110 patients). In the second interim analysis, early termination of the trial was recommended because of futility. At a median follow-up of 24.1 months, the 3-year RFS was 65.4% for etoposide plus cisplatin and 69.0% for irinotecan plus cisplatin, with a hazard ratio of 1.076 (95% CI, 0.666 to 1.738; one-sided log-rank
= .619). Grade 3-4 adverse events were more frequent in the etoposide plus cisplatin arm, with febrile neutropenia (20% of 109 patients
4% of 107 patients) and neutropenia (97%
36%) being the most common. Meanwhile, grade 3-4 anorexia (6%
11%) and diarrhea (1%
8%) were more frequently observed in the irinotecan plus cisplatin arm.
Irinotecan plus cisplatin is not superior to etoposide plus cisplatin for improving RFS in patients with completely resected HGNEC; thus, etoposide plus cisplatin remains the standard treatment.
According to rapid development of chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the Japan Lung Cancer Society has been updated its own guideline annually since 2010. In this latest ...version, all of the procedure was carried out in accordance with grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluation (GRADE) system. It includes comprehensive literature search, systematic review, and determination of the recommendation by multidisciplinary expert panel which consisted of medical doctors, pharmacists, nurses, statisticians, and patients from patient advocacy group. Recently, we have had various types of chemotherapeutic drugs like kinase inhibitors or immune-checkpoint inhibitors. Thus, the guideline proposes to categorize patients into three entities: (1) driver oncogene-positive, (2) PD-L1 ≥ 50%, and (3) others. Based on this subgroup, 31 clinical questions were described. We believe that this attempt enables clinicians to choose appropriate treatment easier. Here, we report an English version of the Japan Lung Cancer Society Guidelines 2018 for NSCLC, stages IV.
Summary Background The combination of nedaplatin, a cisplatin derivative, and docetaxel showed promising activity for advanced squamous cell lung carcinoma in a previous phase 1–2 study. We compared ...nedaplatin plus docetaxel with cisplatin plus docetaxel in patients with previously untreated advanced or relapsed squamous cell lung carcinoma to determine effects on overall survival. Methods We did a randomised, open-label, phase 3 study at 53 institutions in Japan. Eligibility criteria included pathologically proven squamous cell lung cancer with stage IIIB/IV or postoperative recurrence, age 20–74 years, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0–1, no previous chemotherapy or recurrence more than a year after previous adjuvant chemotherapy, and adequate organ function. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to 100 mg/m2 nedaplatin and 60 mg/m2 docetaxel intravenously, or 80 mg/m2 cisplatin and 60 mg/m2 docetaxel, every 3 weeks for four to six cycles (at the treating oncologist's discretion). Randomisation was done centrally at the West Japan Oncology Group data centre via a computer-generated allocation sequence with dynamic minimisation that balanced stage (IIIB/IV or postoperative recurrent), sex, and institution. The primary endpoint was overall survival in the modified intention-to-treat population (ie, all patients who were randomly assigned and met the inclusion criteria). Safety analyses were done in all randomly assigned patients who received at least one dose of the study regimen. This trial is registered with the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry, number UMIN000002015, and is closed to new participants. Findings Between July 6, 2009, and July 26, 2012, 355 patients were randomly assigned. 349 patients were included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis (177 in the nedaplatin group and 172 in the cisplatin group). Overall survival was significantly longer in the nedaplatin group (median 13·6 months, 95% CI 11·6–15·6) than in the cisplatin group (11·4 months,10·2–12·2; hazard ratio 0·81, 95% CI 0·65–1·02; p=0·037, one-sided stratified log-rank test). Grade 3 or worse nausea (seven of 177 patients in the nedaplatin group and 25 of 175 in the cisplatin group), fatigue (six vs 20), hyponatraemia (24 vs 53), and hypokalaemia (four vs 15) were more frequent in the cisplatin group than in the nedaplatin group, whereas grade 3 or worse leucopenia (98 vs 77), neutropenia (146 vs 123), and thrombocytopenia (16 vs none) were more frequent in the nedaplatin group than in the cisplatin group. Treatment-related deaths occurred in four and three patients in nedaplatin and cisplatin groups, respectively. Interpretation Overall survival was significantly longer with nedaplatin plus docetaxel than with cisplatin plus docetaxel, and the regimens had different safety profiles. Nedaplatin plus docetaxel could be a new treatment option for advanced or relapsed squamous cell lung cancer. Funding West Japan Oncology Group and Sanofi.
Summary
Few clinical studies have been designed for elderly patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We conducted a phase I study to evaluate the tolerability of ...carboplatin/nab-paclitaxel and concurrent thoracic radiotherapy in elderly patients with locally advanced NSCLC. The eligibility criteria were: unresectable stage III NSCLC, performance status 0 or 1, and age ≥ 75 years. Eligible patients received 6 weeks of weekly carboplatin/nab-paclitaxel and concurrent thoracic radiotherapy with a total dose of 64 Gy in 32 fractions. Carboplatin was fixed to an area under the plasma concentration time curve (AUC) of 2 mg/mL/min, and the recommended dose of nab-paclitaxel was evaluated using a dose-escalation study (30 or 40 mg/m
2
). Tolerability at the recommended dose was evaluated in an expansion study. Nineteen patients were enrolled at four institutions, all of whom were eligible and assessable. The recommended nab-paclitaxel dose was set at 30 mg/m
2
because two patients experienced dose-limiting toxicity at 40 mg/m
2
. The treatment completion rate of the 17 patients analyzed at the recommended dose was 100% (80% confidence interval (CI), 83.8–100%). The overall response rate was 76.5%, and the median progression free survival was 13.4 months (95% CI, 4.2–21.4 months). Common grade 3 and 4 toxicities included leukopenia (23.5%), neutropenia (17.6%), anemia (5.9%), and infection (5.9%). One treatment-related death due to pneumonitis was observed six months after the end of the study. In conclusion, carboplatin/nab-paclitaxel and concurrent thoracic radiotherapy show good tolerability and exhibit promising efficacy in elderly patients with locally advanced NSCLC. This trial was registered with the Japan Registry of Clinical Trials on March 11, 2019 (trial no. jRCTs042180077).
Background
Since the overall survival (OS) of patients enrolled in the first clinical phase III trial (WJOG5108L) was not recorded owing to time constraints, the present study (WJOG5108LFS) with a ...longer follow-up (66.6 months) aimed to compare OS of those treated with erlotinib (ER) and gefitinib (GE) for lung adenocarcinoma with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation.
Methods
Among 536 enrolled patients, 362 (67.5%) were
EGFR
mutation-positive, including 182 in the ER arm and 180 in the GE arm. Median survival time (MST) and progression-free survival (PFS) were calculated using Kaplan–Meier survival curves. OS and PFS were determined for patients with
EGFR
mutation.
Results
MSTs of ER (
n
= 182) and GE arms (
n
= 180) were 31.97 and 27.98 months, respectively (
P
= 0.3573, hazard ratio = 1.116). MSTs of exon 19 mutation patients in ER (n = 99) and GE arms (
n
= 89) were 37.49 and 28.91 months, respectively (
P
= 0.3791). MSTs of L858 mutation patients in ER (
n
= 82) and GE arms (
n
= 89) were 22.98 and 27.79 months, respectively (
P
= 0.7836). In patients with brain metastasis harboring mutation, response rates were 32.8% and 22.2% (
P
= 0.160), MSTs were 23.46 and 23.89 months (
P
= 0.7410), and PFS were 9.49 and 6.98 months (
P
= 0.1481) in the ER (
n
= 67) and GE arms (
n
= 72), respectively.
Conclusions
No significant differences in OS were observed between the ER and GE arms in all patients with
EGFR
mutation and those with brain metastasis harboring
EGFR
mutation.