ESMO 2019: Liquid Biopsy May Guide Therapy for Some Patients With Lung Cancer
Posted: Monday, October 21, 2019
Blood-based next-generation sequencing appears to successfully identify complex DNA mutations in the cells of patients with advanced ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), potentially eliminating the need for invasive biopsies. These findings were from the BFAST trial, a phase II/III study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2019 in Barcelona (Abstract LBA81_PR).
In patients with lung cancer, “it is a major challenge to get a suitable tumor sample for analysis,” explained Shirish M. Gadgeel, MD, of the Rogel Cancer Center at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in an ESMO press release. “Liquid biopsy identified a similar proportion of patients with ALK mutations to that typically seen with traditional biopsy, and the results with alectinib compared well with those seen in a pivotal study of this treatment.”
Using blood-based next-generation sequencing, the researchers identified 119 patients with ALK-positive disease of the 2,219 patients with untreated stage IIIB/IV NSCLC who were screened. Of these patients, 87 were enrolled and received oral alectinib at 600 mg twice daily. TP53 mutations were detected in 38 patients (44%), and EML4 was the fusion partner in 73 patients (84%).
After a median follow-up of 12.6 months, the objective response rate was 87.4%, and the 12-month progression-free survival was 78.4%. In patients with asymptomatic baseline central nervous system disease (n = 35), the objective response rate was 91.4%. Safety data were consistent with the known safety profile of alectinib.
Disclosure: The study authors’ disclosure information may be found at cslide.ctimeetingtech.com.
