Dr. Subramanian on the Efficacy of Selpercatinib in RET+ NSCLC

Janakiraman Subramanian, MD, a medical oncologist and director of Thoracic Oncology, Center for Precision Medicine, at Saint Luke’s Cancer Institute, discusses the efficacy of selpercatinib (Retevmo) in patients with RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Selpercatinib is a RET inhibitor that was approved by the FDA in May 2020 for use in patients with RET alteration—positive NSCLC, medullary thyroid cancer, and other thyroid cancers, according to Subramanian. The agent has demonstrated promising activity across all patient groups, yielding an overall response rate (ORR) of 64% in the NSCLC cohort, Subramanian adds. Moreover, patients who were treatment naïve experienced an ORR of 84%. 

Selpercatinib appears to be effective and well tolerated, Subramanian adds. Additionally, patients experienced a median duration of response of 17.5 months, meaning the agent has demonstrated durable benefit, according to Subramanian. Selpercatinib has shown a significant improvement over other multikinase inhibitors that have been used in the past, Subramanian concludes.