Dr. Subbiah on the Efficacy of Selpercatinib in RET Fusion–Positive Cancers

Vivek Subbiah, MD, an associate professor in the Investigational Cancer Therapeutics Department, and Center Clinical Medical Director of the Clinical Center for Targeted Therapy of the Cancer Medicine Division, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses outcomes with selpercatinib (Retevmo) in patients with RET fusion–positive cancer.

Selpercatinib achieved an objective response rate of 47% per investigator assessment, according to Subbiah. Responses were observed across a broad spectrum of cancers with RET fusion positivity, including pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, salivary cancer, sarcomas, carcinoid cancer, rectal neuroendocrine tumors, small intestine tumors, xanthogranuloma, ovarian cancer, and pulmonary carcinosarcoma, Subbiah explains. 

Notably, only patients who had measurable disease were included in the waterfall plot presented during the AACR Annual Meeting 2021, Subbiah says. Certain patients, including 1 patient with xanthogranuloma who experienced a complete response, were not included in the presented results, as they had non-target lesions or did not have a post-baseline target lesion measurement, Subbiah explains.

Selpercatinib demonstrated activity across all tumor types that harbored a RET fusion, and yielded promising tumor response rates, Subbiah concludes.