I really enjoyed Dr. Chen's solid tumor drug update, and I'm really excited about many of the drugs he presented during his presentation. In his update, we learned about a new TKI for ovarian cancer, avutometinib defactinib. This drug is indicated for KRAS-mutated recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer after systemic therapy. In these pre-treated patients, we're seeing an objective response rate of 44% and a median duration of response of 31.1 months.
There was also a heavy emphasis on new drugs in the lung cancer space that show promising efficacy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer, and I'm really excited about that. In this review, we discussed newly approved first-line TKI therapy, taletrectinib, for patients with rare ROS1 fusions, which shows an objective response rate of 89% in treatment-naive patients and a duration of response of almost 4 years. Additionally, the TKI zongertinib shows promising data from previously treated patients with non-small cell with HER2 mutations. In studies, zongertinib demonstrated a 75% objective response rate and 14 months duration of response in previously treated patients.
In the vein of rare mutations with new treatments, the monoclonal antibody zenocutuzumab is indicated for previously treated advanced non-small cell lung cancer and pancreatic adenocarcinomas with an NRG1 gene fusion, which accounts for less than 1% of cancers.
Among the other drugs discussed, two fell under the category of antibody drug conjugants in the treatment of lung cancer. Telisotuzumab vedotin, which is an ADC for patients with pre-treated non-small cell lung cancer, EGFR wild-type patients with a high c-MET protein overexpression, and datopotamab deruxtecan, which is indicated for both locally advanced or metastatic pre-treated EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer, and patients with previously treated unresectable or metastatic hormone-positive HER2-negative breast cancer. With these ADCs, we're able to target the tumors with “magic bullets” that are aimed at the cancer and sparing the patient of some of the systemic chemotherapy toxicities that we typically see.
We're also expected to see a different side effect profile, with emphasis on stomatitis and ocular toxicities like dry eye and keratitis. APs will have to educate their patients on the importance of cryotherapy during infusion, good oral hygiene and the management of stomatitis, and avoidance of contact lenses, preservative-free eye drops, and routine eye care with ophthalmology in the management and avoidance of ocular toxicities.
What's evident from all of these medications is the importance of paired RNA and DNA testing, so we're identifying these gene fusions and the appropriate treatments for our patients. Another important topic of conversation following this presentation is the role of sequencing these therapies for our patients. It calls on the AP to not only ensure we're using biomarker testing at the appropriate times, but understanding timing of the therapies and when patients might derive the most benefit.
Big takeaways from these new treatments are more options for therapy in our pre-treated patients, as well as frontline therapy for rare lung cancer mutation with the duration of response that previously wouldn't have been seen in this patient population.
