Non-inferior in diagnosing malignant or benign lesions, and safer (less pneumothorax). The question remains about the amount of tissue for further testing.
FCS medical oncologist and hematologist Ernesto Bustinza-Linares, MD has co-authored an abstract published in the American Society of Clinical Oncology Journal, JCO Precision Oncology, that uncovers a new testing method to determine personalized care options for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The abstract’s authors address the limitations of existing guidelines that recommend checkpoint immunotherapy, sometimes in combination with chemotherapy, for treating NSCLC, which often discounts patient variability and immune factors. The findings from the study show that by incorporating additional plasma proteome-based testing, combined with the standard protein inhibitor testing, clear differences in patient outcomes were observed after applying targeted treatments based on the testing results.
Targeted therapy in NSCLC, FCS was part of this trial.
FCS medical oncologist and hematologist Lowell L. Hart, MD, FACP was first-author a study with FCS co-authors President and Managing Physician Lucio N. Gordan, MD, Director of Pharmacy Operations Kristen Boykin, Senior Vice President & Data Officer Trevor Heritage, PhD, and (Retired) Vice President of Pharmacy Services Ray Bailey BPharm, RPh, that evaluated ES-SCLC patients with chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression over a seven-year period, from January 2013 through December 2020. Within this cohort, 98% of the patients experienced at least one myelosuppressive episode following chemotherapy treatment, leading to the need for supportive care, creating additional costs in health care management and time lost in treatment for ES-SCLC.
Suddenly met-NSCLC is a crowded space. This study did not conclude that T+D+CT was better than D+CT, the findings showed that D+CT was better than CT alone. The addition of T to D+CT improved the PFS and OS trend but I don’t think this was a homerun result. There was not a significant OS benefit and further follow-up will declare these results. Also an improved outcomes were not seen in the non-squamous population. The pembrolizumab studies have 5+ years of follow-up and an improvement in PFS and OS across NSCLC subtypes.
Interesting study which the demonstrates the importance of prescriptive approach to detect NSCLC. Hopefully, in the future ctDNA may enhance or replace LDCT ability to detect patients with stage I/II disease.
Lots of progress to be accomplished here. Increased standardization of care, quality metrics based on guideline-adherence and best practices remain critical to progress.
This is a potential practice-changing study. Future data on overall-survival (OS) will be important to confirm results. Patient selection will also evolve over time especially in real-world practice. I presume more patients with stage II/III will get neoadjuvant therapy as opposed to a patient with a small lung nodule (stage I) taken to surgery, unless if there is significant OS for early stage patients as well.
Importance of NGS testing cannot be overemphasized. Besides poziotinib (which has very reasonable clinical benefit), anti-HER2 combination therapy may be of value in this patient population. Studies are ongoing. Poziotinib-related rash and diarrhea are manageable with proper understanding and interventions.
Another trial corroborating the activity of poziotinib in this setting.