Dr. Pishvaian on the Future of Entrectinib in Pancreatic Cancer

Michael Pishvaian, MD, PhD, director, Phase I Clinical Program, co-director of the Ruesch Center Pancreatic Cancer Program Medical Oncology, Otto J. Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancer, Georgetown-Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the future of entrectinib in the treatment of patients with pancreatic cancer.

It is important to identify which patients should receive this regimen, explains Pishvaian. There is a lot of controversy about whether molecular profiling should be done on patients with pancreatic cancer. If only 1% of the 50,000 patients a year diagnosed with pancreatic cancer are helped due to screening or profiling, that is still 500 patients a year who are having significantly improved outcomes, Pishvaian says. There are other diseases where these fusions or rearrangements are identified, in which entrectinib or drugs similar to it could be beneficial.

The mechanisms of resistance to NTRK inhibitors are being investigated in a study of entrectinib and other trials with similar agents. Physicians are hoping to identify ways to overcome, or even circumvent, resistance pathways to receive more benefit from frontline therapy or identify second- and third-line therapies.