Article and Video CATEGORIES

Cancer Journey

Search By

Targeted Therapies in a Post-Operative/Adjuvant Setting

Please Note: New Treatments Have Emerged Since this Original Post
Author
Dr Pennell
GRACE Cancer Video Library - Lung

GCVL_LU-D21_Targeted_Therapies_Post-Operative_Adjuvant_Setting

 

Dr. Nathan Pennell, Cleveland Clinic, reviews the available trial evidence for the use of targeted therapies in the post-operative/adjuvant setting.

 

Transcript

I’d like to talk to you now about adjuvant treatment with molecularly targeted therapies for non-small call lung cancer. We know that early stage patients, so patients with stage I, II, or III non-small cell lung cancer — many patients are cured with surgery, but unfortunately, many patients go on to recur with metastatic disease. The reason this happens is that some of the cancer cells have escaped from the tumor before surgery and spread elsewhere in the body. This is called microscopic metastatic disease, and for this reason, we offer patients at high risk of occurrence adjuvant therapy. Adjuvant just means that we give four cycles of chemotherapy after surgery, and we know that this provides a modest, but significant improvement in cure rates after surgery alone.

Well, what about for patients who have molecularly defined subgroups of cancer, like EGFR mutation-positive cancer, or ALK-positive cancer? We know that, in the advanced setting, targeted therapies like Tarceva or Gilotrif for EGFR-positive cancer, or crizotinib or Xalkori for ALK-positive lung cancer, are better than chemotherapy in terms of inducing tumor responses, delaying the progression of cancer, and potentially even improving overall survival.

Since they work in the advanced setting, wouldn’t it make sense that they might work better in the adjuvant setting as well? Well, it’s not quite that simple. For one thing, we don’t have any evidence for any type of molecular subgroup, other than EGFR mutation-positive patients, but even in that setting, we really don’t have good evidence that adjuvant therapy improves cure rates after surgery alone. We have a little bit of evidence, so we know that the doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute in New York have treated several hundred patients with adjuvant Tarceva after surgery and they’ve reported that the patients have probably a lower than expected recurrence rate compared to what we might expect for that risk of patients, and they’ve suggested that maybe even they’re improving cure rates with adjuvant Tarceva.

Unfortunately, you can’t draw conclusions from a retrospective series and not a prospective trial. There have been at least two prospective trials that have been done, including one phase II trial that treated patients with two years of adjuvant Tarceva after surgery and then a subgroup of patients from a phase III trial called the RADIANT trial — so these were not EGFR mutation-positive patients in the overall trial, but there were 160 mutation-positive patients on the trial who were treated with two years of Tarceva, or two years of a placebo. All of these put together have suggested that adjuvant Tarceva does potentially delay the recurrence of cancers, but once the adjuvant treatment stopped, many patients went on to recur at a later time. None of the trials have suggested that patients lived longer or were cured at a higher rate than patients who were treated with standard treatment, including adjuvant chemotherapy.

What we really need is a randomized prospective phase III trial. Luckily, there is one that’s open and enrolling called the ALCHEMIST trial. Patients with stage IB, II, or III non-small cell lung cancer are tested for EGFR mutations or ALK gene fusions, and if those are found, they’re randomly assigned to two years of Tarceva for EGFR, or Xalkori for ALK-positive lung cancer patients, or two years of a placebo. Hopefully, at the end of this trial we’ll know whether patients are cured at a higher rate when treated with these adjuvant target therapies, versus just delaying the recurrence of the cancer.

For now, in 2015, I would not routinely recommend adjuvant therapy with a targeted drug like Tarceva or Xalkori outside of a clinical trial, but would strongly encourage patients to enroll in the ALCHEMIST trial.

Video Language

Next Previous link

Previous PostNext Post

Related Content

Article
Advance directives are a powerful way to take control of healthcare choices. These documents allow you to outline preferences for medical care and specify end-of-life wishes. These documents can also be a way to appoint loved ones who you would like to help with these decisions, such as a healthcare proxy (someone to make decisions on your behalf, if you cannot). As cancer treatments can involve aggressive treatments and/or complex medical management, having advance directives ensures that your desires regarding treatment options and end-of-life care are clearly communicated. 
Image
2024-25 patient perspectives header
Article
Tell your story and help us help others! Apply online now for this paid opportunity. This program gives a voice to those who have experience in participating in a clinical trial for a cancer diagnosis. Your voice helps to educate and advocate for others who are in or who may be considering a clinical trial.  We want to hear from you!
Image
Foro de Pacientes de Terapias Dirigidas de Cáncer de Pulmón
Video
¡El vídeo completo bajo demanda está disponible para verlo!

Forum Discussions

Hi Bluebird,  Welcome to GRACE.  I'm sorry you're going through this scare and hope it's just inflammation from an infection you didn't know you had. 

 

A CT would be the...

Radiation + Brain Operation has just been discarded due to high risk. They will double Tagrisso dosis and then wait to see if it works, then try traditional Chemo. I would...

Hi and welcome to GRACE.  I'm sorry to know you are entering a new stage.  I'm not about to comment just now but wanted to let you know I see your...

Edit to say, we can't give advice but we can comment with views and facts.  :)

 

My first thought is to ask if she has been seen at a large...

Hi Barbro, Welcome to GRACE. I'm sorry you're worrying about this. We aren't able to give feedback on scan reports. Interpreting scan reports in this setting is not only unethical but...

Thank you, Janine, for answering so rapidly. I am aware that my nodules are small, but they scare me all the same. Your words that nodule measurements may vary somewhat when...

Hi Barbro,  I'm sorry you're worrying about this, and don't feel like you can discuss this with your doctor.  Speak to your doctor about this.  Let them know your worries and...

Recent Comments

JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Hi Bluebird,  Welcome to…
By JanineT GRACE … on
Hi Barbro,  I'm sorry you're…
By JanineT GRACE … on
General Lung/Thoracic Cancer
By Barbro Kristin… on
My first thought is to ask…
By JanineT GRACE … on