Dr Le on the Investigation of Osimertinib and Chemotherapy in Metastatic Lung Cancer

Xiuning Le, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses ongoing and future investigations with osimertinib (Tagrisso) and chemotherapy in patients with metastatic lung cancer.

Most patients with lung cancer are diagnosed with metastatic disease, Le begins. For patients with locally advanced, EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), osimertinib is currently the global standard of care, Le explains. However, investigators continue to discuss new ideas for how to improve upon the current data seen with osimertinib in this population, she adds. For example, investigators want to improve upon the progression-free survival (PFS) advantages associated with osimertinib in patients with EGFR-mutant disease, Le emphasizes.

One such idea to improve upon these data is to add chemotherapy to upfront osimertinib, Le expands. This strategy delivers a toxic regimen to the tumor to decrease the amount of tumor cells upfront, andinvestigators hypothesize that this approach will prolong the benefits of osimertinib, Le explains. Findings from the phase 3 FLAURA2 trial (NCT04035486) have shown that combining chemotherapy with osimertinib upfront is superior to offering osimertinib alone, Le says. These highly anticipated data will be discussed in detail at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer, according to Le.

Another area of consideration when evaluating treatment approaches for patients with metastatic lung cancer is the magnitude of potential benefit that patients can derive from these therapies, Le continues. Additional data from FLAURA2 will indicate whether the addition of chemotherapy to osimertinib provides a long-term PFS benefit in patients with EGFR-mutant NSCLC, Le notes. Another area of interest is the toxicity profile associated with this approach, she says. Overall, these exciting data, once released, will spur further scientific questions, Le concludes.