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.

As of July 15, 2019, 14 patients with metastatic TRK fusion lung cancer were enrolled: 13 with non-small cell lung cancer and 1 with small cell lung cancer. The ORR with larotrectinib was 71% (95% CI 42–92%): 1 patient had a complete response, 9 had partial responses, 3 had stable disease and 1 had progressive disease. The ORR in patients with CNS metastases was 57% (95% CI 18–90%). The overall DoR ranged from 1.9+ to 28.7+ months…In this updated analysis, larotrectinib was shown to be highly active in patients with advanced lung cancer harboring NTRK gene fusions, including those with CNS metastases.