Dr. Reinmuth on the Rationale for Examining PROs With Tepotinib in METex14-Altered NSCLC

Niels Reinmuth, MD, PhD, leader of the Thoracic Oncology Department, Asklepios Lung Clinic, member of the German Cancer Society, the German Society of Pulmonology, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, the European Society for Medical Oncology, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, discusses the rationale for a health utility analysis of tepotinib (Tepmetko) in patients with MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping mutation–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The utility analysis was based on patient-reported outcomes collected as part of the phase 2 VISION trial (NCT02864992), which examined the agent in those whose tumors harbor MET alterations. The study sought to address the significant unmet need for treatment options for this population, as this subset is known to be difficult to treat and often has poor prognoses and poor responses to chemotherapy, according to Reinmuth. Moreover, these alterations are most often seen in those with sarcomatoid differentiation, Reinmuth adds.

Although immunotherapy has demonstrated benefit in this patient population, there is always a need for more targeted approaches to treatment, Reinmuth says. Given that tepotinib was designed to target METex14 skipping alterations, this provides the rationale to further evaluate the health utility of the agent in this subset and to develop additional targeted therapies to address these alterations, Reinmuth concludes.