The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the drug capmatinib (Tabrecta) for adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), whose tumors have a genetic mutation that results in the loss of exon 14 of the MET (mesenchymal-epithelial transition gene) gene.
The approval was based on a trial of 160 patients with metastatic NSCLC who had the mutation. Among previously untreated patients, the overall response rate (ORR) was 68% with a duration of response (DOR) of 16.6 months while in previously treated patients the ORR was 44% and the DOR was 9.7 months.
Even so, this new therapy will give hope to patients with this disease.
