Dr. Garon on the Potential Clinical Implications of the TROPION-Lung01 Trial in NSCLC

Edward B. Garon, MD, professor of medicine, Geffen School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), thoracic medical oncologist, UCLA Health, discusses the potential impact of the ongoing, phase 3 TROPION-LUNG01 trial (NCT04656652) in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Although the phase 2 TROPION-Lung05 (NCT04484142) trial is also ongoing, the TROPION-LUNG01 study has the most potential to impact clinical care in NSCLC, Garon explains. The study is comparing datopotamab deruxtecan (DS-1062a) with docetaxel in patients with previously treated advanced or metastatic NSCLC without actionable genomic alterations.  

Docetaxel is not the preferred comparator arm to datopotamab deruxtecan because the chemotherapy is associated with substantial toxicity and limited efficacy, Garon expands. However, there are some docetaxel-containing regimens that have shown improved outcomes for patients with NSCLC in the United States, such as the addition oframucirumab (Cyramza) plus docetaxel has led to permanent outcomes, Garon adds.

Moreover, if the duration of response data from the TROPION-LUNG01 trial demonstrate positive results with datopotamab deruxtecan and the pulmonary toxicity is found to be mitigated with decreased dosing, the antibody-drug conjugate has the potential to change second-line treatment for patients with NSCLC, Garon concludes.