Key Points
• Conclusion/Relevance: “In this interim analysis, the majority of patients with RET fusion-positive NSCLC remained stable or improved on all QLQ-C30 subscales at each study visit, demonstrating the favorable HRQoL [health-related quality of life] as measured by the QLQ-C30 during treatment with selpercatinib.”
• The LIBRETTO-001 is an ongoing, global, open-label, phase 1/2 study of selpercatinib in patients harboring advanced or metastatic solid tumors (n=253). Results from this interim analysis represent data from patients with RET fusion-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
• The majority of patients overall and in each subgroup maintained or improved in HRQoL during treatment, with 61.1%–66.7% exhibiting improvement for global health status, 33.3%–61.1% for dyspnea, and 46.2%–63.0% for pain.
• “Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) generally experience greater symptom burden and lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as disease progresses. In a phase 1/2 trial, improvements in HRQoL were observed in over 60% of patients with advanced RET fusion-positive NSCLC who received selpercatinib, a highly selective RET inhibitor. More than one-third of patients reported a reduction in dyspnea during study participation and nearly half reported a reduction in pain by the first-follow up assessment,” wrote the authors.
• Limitations of the current study include its lack of a control arm, which makes causality unprovable. Furthermore, time-to-event data indicated that the results were not fully realized.
Discussion questions: What quality of life issues are your NSCLC patients most concerned with? What role does dyspnea play in quality of life?