Dr. Goldman on Targeted Therapy Options for EGFR-, ALK-, and ROS1-Mutated NSCLC

Jonathan W. Goldman, MD, health sciences clinical instructor, Department of Medicine, and Hematology/Oncology member, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Signal Transduction and Therapeutics Program, UCLA, discusses targeted therapy options for patients with EGFR-, ALK-, and ROS1-mutated non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

In April 2018, osimertinib (Tagrisso) was approved by the FDA for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic NSCLC whose tumors harbor EGFR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R mutations.

Osimertinib is a highly effective oral TKI with limited adverse events, explains Goldman.

Similarly, alectinib (Alecensa) is a well-tolerated oral TKI that was approved by the FDA in November 2017 for the treatment of patients with ALK-positive metastatic NSCLC.

Patients treated with alectinib can experience durable remissions, says Goldman.

Though ROS1 mutations are relatively rare, 2 oral inhibitors, crizotinib (Xalkori) and entrectinib (Rozlytrek), have been approved for the treatment of patients with ROS1-positive metastatic NSCLC.