Useful in Certain Circumstances: NTRK therapy for NTRK gene fusion-positive tumors - Larotrectinib, Entrectinib.

We’re delighted to announce that a new drug, larotrectinib, has been approved for the treatment of certain sarcomas in England. ‘Sarcoma UK welcomes today’s approval of larotrectinib. Made available for use by the Cancer Drugs Fund and approved by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) larotrectinib is a new type of ‘histologically-independent’ drug that targets tumours based on their genetic makeup. It works by targeting the specific NTKR genetic abnormality in tumours meaning patients are treated according to the genetics of their tumour rather than where it is in the body.

Median overall survival (OS) was not reached at a median follow-up of 43.7 months. The 36-month DoR, PFS, and OS rates were 71%, 64%, and 82%. Duration of treatment ranged from 1.0 to 68.0 months….Larotrectinib demonstrated rapid and durable efficacy with a favourable safety profile in pts with TRK fusion SGTs.

116 adults (median age: 56 y, range 19–84 y; 53% female) with TRK fusion cancer were treated. Tumor types included thyroid cancer (22%), salivary gland cancer (19%), soft tissue sarcoma (16%), lung cancer (12%), colon cancer (7%), melanoma (5%), breast cancer (5%), GIST (3%), and 9 other types (≤2% each). NTRK fusions involved NTRK1 (43%), NTRK2 (3%), and NTRK3 (54%)....larotrectinib demonstrated robust and durable tumor-agnostic efficacy and favorable safety, supporting NTRK gene fusion testing in patients with solid tumors of any type.