Dr. Ramalingam on the OS Results of the FLAURA Trial in EGFR-Mutant NSCLC

Suresh S. Ramalingam, MD, deputy director, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, discusses the overall survival (OS) results of the phase III FLAURA trial in patients with EGFR-mutant non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

In the trial, patients with EGFR-positive NSCLC were randomized to receive the third-generation EGFR TKI osimertinib (Tagrisso), or gefitinib (Iressa) or erlotinib (Tarceva). Overall survival (OS) served as a secondary endpoint of the trial. Patients who received osimertinib experienced a statistically and clinically meaningful benefit in OS, says Ramalingam.

The median OS in the osimertinib arm was 38.6 months versus 31.8 months in the erlotinib or gefitinib arms, which translated to an approximately 20% reduction in the risk of death with the third-generation EGFR inhibitor (HR, 0.799). At the time of analysis, 54% of patients were alive at 36 months in the osimertinib arm versus 44% in the erlotinib/gefitinib group. Notably, the OS in the control arm is among the highest ever to be reported and is likely due to the fact that patients with a T790M resistance mutation were allowed to crossover, explains Ramalingam.

<<< View more from the 2019 ESMO Congress