FDA Approves Larotrectinib for Solid Tumors With NTRK Gene Fusions
On November 26, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to larotrectinib (Vitrakvi) for adult and pediatric patients with solid tumors that have a neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase (NTRK) gene fusion without a known acquired resistance mutation, whose disease is either metastatic or in those where surgical resection is likely to result in severe morbidity, and who have no satisfactory alternative treatments or whose cancer has progressed following treatment.
“[This] approval marks another step in an important shift toward treating cancers based on their tumor genetics rather than their site of origin in the body,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD. “This new site-agnostic oncology therapy isn’t specific to a cancer arising in a particular body organ, such as breast or colon cancer. Its approval reflects advances in the use of biomarkers to guide drug development and the more targeted delivery of medicine. We now have the ability to make sure that the right patients get the right treatment at the right time. This type of drug development program, which enrolled patients with different tumors but a common gene mutation, wouldn’t have been possible a decade ago because we knew a lot less about such cancer mutations.”
Approval Based on Three Trials
Approval was based on data from three multicenter, open-label, single-arm clinical trials: LOXO-TRK-14001, SCOUT, and NAVIGATE. Identification of positive NTRK gene fusion status was prospectively determined in local laboratories using next-generation sequencing (NGS) or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). NTRK gene fusions were inferred in three pediatric patients with infantile fibrosarcoma who had a documented ETV6 translocation by FISH. The major efficacy outcome measures were overall response rate (ORR) and response duration, as determined by a blinded independent review committee according to RECIST 1.1.
Efficacy was evaluated in the first 55 patients with unresectable or metastatic solid tumors harboring an NTRK gene fusion enrolled across the three trials. All patients were required to have progressed following systemic therapy for their disease, if available, or would have required surgery with significant morbidity for locally advanced disease. Twelve patients were less than 18 years of age. A total of 12 cancer types were represented, with the most common being salivary gland tumors (22%), soft-tissue sarcoma (20%), infantile fibrosarcoma (13%), and thyroid cancer (9%).
ORR was 75% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 61%–85%), including 22% complete responses and 53% partial responses. At the time of database lock, median duration of response had not been reached. Response duration was 6 months or longer for 73%, 9 months or longer for 63%, and 12 months or longer for 39% of patients.
The safety of larotrectinib was evaluated in 176 patients enrolled across the three clinical trials, including 44 pediatric patients. The most common adverse reactions (≥ 20%) with larotrectinib were fatigue, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, increased AST, cough, increased ALT, constipation, and diarrhea.
The recommended larotrectinib doses are 100 mg orally twice daily for adults and 100 mg/m2 orally twice daily (maximum of 100 mg per dose) for pediatric patients.
View the full prescribing information for larotrectinib.
The content in this post has not been reviewed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) and does not necessarily reflect the ideas and opinions of ASCO®.
