Real-World Data Reveal Effectiveness of Systemic Therapies for BRAF Mutation-Positive NSCLC

Recently, researchers confirmed the importance of effective systemic therapies among patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with BRAF mutations.

“BRAF mutations (present in 2%-3% of NSCLC) are a known oncogenic driver and emerging therapeutic target,” explained the study authors. “There is a scarcity of real-world data describing the clinical characteristics, treatment patterns, and effectiveness of targeted BRAF-inhibiting and immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based systemic therapies, yet this is required for appropriate treatment decisions that optimize patient outcome.” 

For this real-world study, the research team used demographic, clinical, treatment, and outcome data for patients with BRAF mutation-positive NSCLC diagnosed between 2018 and 2022. The patient population for this study was identified through the Glans-Look Lung Cancer Research database. 

Based on the criteria, 53 BRAF mutation-positive patients were identified (V600E, n = 35; non-V600E, n = 18). Additionally, 46 patients (87%) were diagnosed with metastatic disease— 61% of which were treated with systemic anticancer therapy. These statistics significantly improved overall survival (34.1 vs. 2.2 month, P = .01).

“ICI-based regimens were found to have effectiveness in the first-line setting for both V600E and non-V600E cohorts (objective response rate: 38%-43%; real-world calculations of median progression-free survival: 10.5-10.8 month, respectively),” explained the researchers in their findings. “Dual-targeted BRAF/MEK inhibition was also found to have effectiveness in the first-line setting for V600E patients (objective response rate: 33%, real-world calculations of median progression-free survival: 15.2 month).”

Overall, the study authors found dual targeted BRAF/MEK inhibition and ICI-based regimens are both beneficial among this patient population. The researchers also concluded that this study revealed “that real-world populations can experience similar clinical response and outcome to clinical trial cohorts on these treatment regimens.”

“Future studies to clarify the role of co-mutations on response to both dual-targeted BRAF/MEK inhibition and ICI-based regimens may be important to treatment selection and optimization of patient outcome,” they noted. 

Reference: 
Gibson AJW, Pabani A, Dean ML, Martos G, Cheung WY, Navani V. Real-world treatment patterns and effectiveness of targeted and immune checkpoint inhibitor-based systemic therapy in BRAF mutation-positive NSCLC. JTO Clin Res Rep. 2023;4(3):100460. doi:10.1016/j.jtocrr.2022.100460