Background
In most cases, T790M
EGFR
-positive NSCLC patients receiving osimertinib developed “non-drugable” progression, as the patients with common
EGFR
-sensitizing mutations were treated with ...first-line osimertinib. In both settings, chemotherapy represents the standard treatment and local ablative treatments (LATs) are potential useful options in the case of oligo-progression.
Methods
We conducted a study on “post-progression” (pp) outcomes of T790M
EGFR
-positive NSCLC patients treated with osimertinib, according to the therapeutic strategy applied: osimertinib beyond progression (± LATs), “switched therapies” or best supportive care only (BSC).
Results
144 consecutive patients were evaluated: 53 (36.8%) did not received post-progression treatments (BSC), while 91 (63.2%) patients received at least 1 subsequent treatment; 50 patients (54.9%) received osimertinib beyond disease progression 19 (20.9%) of them with adjunctive LATs and 41 (45.1%) a switched therapy. Median ppPFS (progression-free survival) and median ppOS (overall survival) of patients who received osimertinib beyond progression vs. switched therapies were 6.4 months vs. 4.7 months, respectively HR 0.57 (95% CI 0.35–0.92),
p
= 0.0239 and 11.3 months vs 7.8 months, respectively HR 0.57 (95% CI 0.33–0.98),
p
= 0.0446. Among patients who received osimertinib beyond progression with and without LATs median ppPFS was 6.4 months and 5.7 months, respectively HR 0.90 (95% CI 0.68–1.18),
p
= 0.4560, while median ppOS was 20.2 months and 9.9 months, respectively HR 0.73 (95% CI 0.52–1.03),
p
= 0.0748. At the univariate analysis, the only factor significantly related to the ppPFS was the therapeutic strategy in favor of osimertinib beyond progression (± LATs). Moreover, the only variable which was significantly related to ppOS at the multivariate analysis was osimertinib beyond progression (± LATs).
Conclusion
Our study confirmed that in clinical practice, in case of “non-druggable” disease progression, maintaining osimertinib beyond progression (with adjunctive LATs) is an effective option.
Most patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) present with advanced disease and their long-term prognosis remains poor. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeted therapies, such as ...gefitinib, have been subjected to comprehensive clinical development. Several phase II and III trials evaluated the clinical efficacy of gefitinib as monotherapy in pretreated patients with advanced NSCLC, as well as both monotherapy and combined with chemotherapy in chemotherapy-naive patients. A phase III trial (ISEL) in heavily pretreated advanced NSCLC patients demonstrated some improvement in survival with gefitinib compared with placebo; however, the difference was not statistically significant within the overall population. A large phase III trial in pretreated patients (INTEREST) demonstrated the non-inferiority of gefitinib in comparison with docetaxel for overall survival, together with an improved quality of life and tolerability profiles. In a large phase III trial (IPASS) in Asian chemotherapy-naive, never or former light-smoker patients with adenocarcinoma, gefitinib was more effective than carboplatin-paclitaxel in prolonging progression-free survival, particularly in patients harboring EGFR gene mutations. Gefitinib was a generally well tolerated treatment, with skin rash and diarrhea being the most common treatment adverse events. As a result, gefitinib is expected to have a large impact on the management of patients with advanced NSCLC, in particular in EGFR mutated patients.