Dr. Yu on Treatments for EGFR-Mutant Lung Cancer

Helena A. Yu, MD, medical oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses treatments for EGFR-mutant non—small cell lung cancer.

The FLAURA study, which read out in late 2017, showed that osimertinib (Tagrisso) had a doubling of median progression-free survival (PFS) compared with what was previously the standard of care for these patients. Osimertinib will become the standard of care for first-line treatment, predicts Yu. Following the results of the phase III FLAURA trial, the FDA approved osimertinib as a first-line treatment for patients with non—small cell lung cancer whose tumors harbor EGFR mutations (exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R substitution mutations).

Identifying resistance mutations is key when choosing a targeted therapy, as these treatments are very effective and they work for a long time. However, all patients progress at some point. Yu says that it is key to rebiopsy patients at that point, and to look and see what the different resistance mechanisms are. With osimertinib, there are patterns that are emerging, and off-target resistance is going to be a more dominant factor, Yu explains.