Efficacy

Tagrisso (Osimertinib) Efficacy in Treating Lung Cancer

Tagrisso (osimertinib) is a third-generation, irreversible epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR TKI) that has shown significant efficacy in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with specific EGFR mutations. Clinical trials have demonstrated that osimertinib is effective in patients with NSCLC who have the T790M mutation, which is a common mutation associated with resistance to earlier generations of EGFR TKIs. In the AURA3 study, osimertinib significantly improved progression-free survival compared to platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with T790M-positive advanced NSCLC who had disease progression after first-line EGFR TKI therapy.

Moreover, osimertinib has also been studied as a first-line treatment in NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations. The FLAURA trial compared osimertinib to standard EGFR TKIs (erlotinib or gefitinib) in this patient population. Results indicated that osimertinib substantially extended progression-free survival and had a more favorable safety profile than the comparator EGFR TKIs. This has led to its approval as a first-line treatment option for patients with metastatic NSCLC harboring EGFR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R mutations.

Keytruda (Pembrolizumab) Efficacy in Treating Lung Cancer

Keytruda (pembrolizumab) is an anti-PD-1 (programmed death receptor-1) therapy that has shown efficacy in the treatment of various types of cancer, including NSCLC. Pembrolizumab works by enhancing the immune system's ability to detect and fight tumor cells. It has been approved for use in patients with metastatic NSCLC whose tumors express PD-L1 with a tumor proportion score (TPS) of 1% or more, and who have previously undergone chemotherapy, as well as for the first-line treatment of patients with a high PD-L1 expression (TPS of 50% or more) without EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations.

Clinical trials such as KEYNOTE-024 have demonstrated that pembrolizumab significantly improved overall survival and progression-free survival compared to chemotherapy in previously untreated patients with high PD-L1 expression. Additionally, KEYNOTE-189 and KEYNOTE-407 trials have shown that adding pembrolizumab to standard chemotherapy improves survival outcomes in patients with metastatic nonsquamous and squamous NSCLC, respectively, irrespective of PD-L1 expression levels. These studies have established pembrolizumab as a standard of care in the first-line setting for patients with high PD-L1 expression and as a combination therapy with chemotherapy in NSCLC.