Dr. Haakensen on Exclusion Criteria of a Named Patient Use Program in NSCLC

Vilde D. Haakensen, MD, PhD, project group leader, researcher, Oslo University Hospital, discusses exclusion criteria for the Oslo University Hospital Named Patient Use program for adjuvant durvalumab (Imfinzi) in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

During the 2021 SOHO Annual Meeting, findings from a real-world experience study of adjuvant durvalumab in patients with locally advanced NSCLC were presented. Of the 41 patients included in the program, 35 patients started treatment with 1 year of durvalumab. The 6 patients excluded were so because of progression, wrong staging, pneumonitis, cardiac rheumatic disease, and osteomyelitis. An additional 8 patients stopped durvalumab because of adverse effects. 

It was important to examine why these patients could not start or complete durvalumab, which is associated with clinical benefit in this patient population, Haakensen concludes.