Vandetanib possesses moderate activity in pretreated patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors harbor RET rearrangements, a study published in the journal Annals of Oncology has shown.1
Approximately 1% of NSCLC tumors have chromosomal rearrangements involving RET. Vandetanib is a kinase inhibitor of VEGFR, EGFR, and the RET-tyrosine kinase. Therefore, researchers sought to evaluate the efficacy and safety of vandetanib in this patient population.
For the multicenter, open-label, phase 2 study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01823068), investigators enrolled 18 patients with metastatic or recurrent NSCLC and a RET rearrangement who had progressive disease after platinum-based doublet chemotherapy and a performance status of 0 to 2.
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Among the 17 evaluable patients, results showed that 3 achieved a partial response and 8 had stable disease. The objective response rate was 18% and the disease control rate was 65%. The response or disease stabilization lasted for longer than 6 months in 8 patients.
After a median follow-up of 14 months, researchers also found that median progression-free survival and median overall survival were 4.5 months and 11.6 months, respectively.
The most common adverse events were hypertension and rash, occurring in more than 70% of patients. Most cases were mild. Four patients required dose reductions and 5 patients experienced grade 3 toxicities. No grade 4 or 5 adverse events were observed.
Reference
1. Lee SH, Lee JK, Ahn MJ, et al. Vandetanib in pretreated patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer harboring RET rearrangement: A phase II clinical trial. Ann Oncol. 2016 Nov 1. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdw559. [Epub ahead of print]
