Key Takeaways From a Trial of Erlotinib/Binimetinib in EGFR+ or KRAS+ NSCLC

Andreas Saltos, MD, medical oncologist and clinical research medical director in the department of thoracic oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses the key discoveries from a phase 1/1B trial (NCT01859026) of erlotinib (Tarceva) and binimetinib (Mektovi) in EGFR- and KRAS-mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

According to Saltos, there was limited efficacy in this patient population who was administered this combination, likely due to them not being able to achieve highly therapeutic doses of both drugs through tolerability.

However, there were signals in 1-2 patients with NSCLC harboring KRAS mutations who had some degree of durable benefit from the combination.

Transcription:

0:08 | One of the things that we noted in the presentation is that there were not necessarily many signals of increased efficacy in the combination in patients with EGFR mutations. Maybe we saw with the KRAS mutations more so than you may expect. This could be reflective of the lower doses that we had with a combination.

0:32 | I think it still remains to be seen whether strategies like this in EGFR may be valuable. We already are seeing a lot of clinical trials underway, combinations with the new standard of care, third generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Before coming to conclusions about the effectiveness of combination strategies, I'd like to see data from those as well.