Sangeetha Palakurthi on Strategies for Managing Resistance to Osimertinib in Patients With NSCLC

Sangeetha Palakurthi, PhD, head of the Cancer Biology and Pharmacology Group at the Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses a study that utilized non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) from patients on osimertinib (AZD9291) clinical trials to further refine therapeutic strategies.

Researchers have conducted clinical trials looking at biomarker efficacy and combination regimens to better understand patient resistance to osimertinib, Palakurthi explains. This is to help gain a greater understanding of the appropriate treatments for these patients, or to possibly extend durations of response in patients with short-term responses to osimertinib.

Therefore, a platform of NSCLC PDXs was developed in order to refine treatment strategies in these patients, Palakurthi adds.