Dr. Hart on Impact of Trilaciclib on Myelosuppression in Extensive-Stage SCLC

Lowell L. Hart, MD, FACP, scientific director of Clinical Research at Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, and associate professor of Internal Medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine, discusses the impact of trilaciclib on myelosuppression in patients with previously treated extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. (SCLC).

Trilaciclib is a first-in-class intravenous CDK4/6 inhibitor that was designed to alleviate myelosuppression, a common adverse event associated with topotecan, in which bone marrow activity is decreased, resulting in fewer red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

In this randomized phase II trial presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting, investigators evaluated the agent’s myelopreservation properties in patients with extensive-stage SCLC. Patients were randomized to receive either topotecan alone or topotecan and trilaciclib. When trilaciclib was used concurrently with chemotherapy, investigators observed a lower rate of neutropenia and improved tolerability. The agent has also enabled a longer duration of chemotherapy in patients with metastatic triplet-negative breast cancer.