Dr. Kirson Discusses the LUNAR Study in Advanced NSCLC

Eilon Kirson, MD, PhD, chief medical officer, Novocure, discusses the LUNAR study in advanced non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

LUNAR is a phase III study in patients with stage IV NSCLC previously treated with platinum-based therapy. Investigators hypothesize that the addition of Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) to an immune checkpoint inhibitor or docetaxel following platinum doublet failure will increase the overall survival (OS) of patients with stage IV NSCLC. Preclinical evidence has shown TTFields to be efficacious in NSCLC, and a phase I/II pilot study with pemetrexed showed the modality to be safe, Kirson says. TTFields are a localized, non-invasive, anti-mitotic treatment modality that disrupts the formation of the mitotic spindle.

Over 500 patients will be randomized 1:1 to receive TTFields with standard of care versus standard of care alone. Kirson says that due to the rapidly evolving nature of the NSCLC treatment landscape, the standard of care is open to PD-1 inhibitors, PD-L1 inhibitors, or docetaxel. The patients will be stratified based on the standard of care that they are given. The study is powered to show an OS advantage and a hazard ratio of 0.75.