Four leading Australian experts, Prof Kenneth O’Byrne, Prof Duncan Topliss, Dr Malinda Itchins and Prof Sandra O’Toole, discuss presentations from the 2021 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) meeting on the evolving landscape of genetic testing and treatment for rare fusion oncogene mutation associated thyroid and lung cancers, focusing on RET fusion positive cancers.
Professor Topliss presents a survey of the panorama of genomic RET mutations in the major thyroid cancer subtypes, studies of molecular genotyping practices and treatment protocols in refractory thyroid cancers across Europe and data from LIBRETTO-531 comparing selpercatinib to standard of care in advanced/metastatic MTC.
Dr Itchins presents data on improved outcomes in patients with ALK-rearranged NSCLC treated with alectinib and promising early data for selective RET inhibitors in frontline treatment of RET fusion positive NSCLC: selpercatinib in LIBRETTO-001 and pralsetinib in ARROW.
The discussion covers development of next generation RET inhibitors, active against a broad array of resistance mutations, LIBRETTO 432 investigating peri-operative selpercatinib and novel therapeutic approaches including novel antibody drug conjugates to combat drug resistance, novel biospecific antibodies and the role of combination therapy.
Professor O’Toole reviews fusion oncogene testing technology, practices and availability in Australia, and the experts discuss technical, logistic and financial barriers to testing and expected future developments.
This program is supported by an independent and unrestricted educational grant by EliLilly