A Phase II Trial of Osimertinib in the Second-Line Treatment of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer with the EGFR T790M Mutation, Detected from Circulating Tumor DNA: LiquidLung-O-Cohort 2

Purpose: Administering the best treatment after failure of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy requires knowledge of resistance status. In this trial, treatment efficacy of osimertinib was assessed in patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) harboring the T790M resistance mutation, detected from circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) with unknown tumor mutation status.

Materials And Methods: To extract ctDNA from plasma, 15 mL of peripheral blood was withdrawn and centrifuged immediately before storage. Cobas ver. 2 and PANA Mutyper were used for ctDNA genotyping. Patients with T790M, detected from ctDNA, were enrolled and they received a oncedaily administration of osimertinib 80 mg. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR), and secondary endpoints were ctDNA test sensitivity, progression-free survival (PFS), duration of response (DoR), and safety.

Results: Eighty patients with acquired resistance to prior EGFR-TKI therapies were screened. ctDNA of 21 patients showed T790M positivity, and 19 patients were enrolled. In the responseevaluable population (n=15), ORR was 66.7% (10/15). Median PFS was 8.3 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.9 to 8.7) and median DoR was 6.8 months (95% CI, 5.3 to 8.3) in the intent-to-treat population (n=19). No subject experienced drug-related adverse event of grades ≥ 3 or required dose reduction. The sensitivity of the ctDNA tests was 56.8% using both methods and 45.9% with either method from the estimated T790M-positive cases.

Conclusion: Osimertinib has favorable efficacy in patients with NSCLC harboring T790M, detected from ctDNA with unknown tumor mutation status, in whom disease had progressed during prior EGFR-TKI therapy.