Patients with RET-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were today given hope for treatment. This is because the European Commission has approved the first targeted drug, pralsetinib, which can be used as a first-line treatment.
Pralsetinib is the first and only precision medicine on the market, approved in the European Union for the first-line treatment of people with advanced RET fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer. The European Commission's decision comes after a positive evaluation of the results of the Phase I/II ARROW trial, in which the drug led to sustained responses in patients. According to Dr Levi Garraway, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Global Product Development at Roche, the registration of the new drug is an important step in the development of precision medicine, especially as therapeutic options for patients with advanced RET fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer have been severely limited to date.
Epidemiology of NDRP with fusion RET
Up to 37,500 patients are diagnosed with RET-mutated non-small cell lung cancer each year. Often, the disease also affects people who have no history of smoking tobacco products and are younger than the average age of a patient diagnosed with lung cancer.
Not just in lung cancer?
Experts point out that alterations in the RET gene are a key factor not only for non-small cell lung cancer, but also in other oncological conditions such as thyroid cancer. It is noteworthy that the drug registered for the treatment of NDRP has also shown activity in many types of solid tumours. According to the researchers, this may reflect the potential of the therapy in a tumour-agnostic approach to cancer treatment.
Currently, pralsetinib is also approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of adults with metastatic RET-positive NDRP and for the treatment of adults and children aged 12 years and older with advanced thyroid cancer with RET lesions. The formulation has also received registration in Canada, mainland China and Switzerland.
Source: cowzdrowiu.pl