Abstract

Background: REFLECT was a retrospective, non-interventional study conducted in eight countries, including eleven sites from Romania, on patients with advanced stage non-small cell carcinoma (NSCLC).
Aim: To characterize clinical outcomes, treatments and the proportion of T790M EGFR mutation testing in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving first- or second-generation (1G/2G) epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs ) as first-line (1L) treatment in the Romanian cohort of an international study.
Methods: Comprehensive data were retrieved from the medical records of ninety patients with EGFR-mutated advanced NSCLC treated with 1G/2G EGFR TKIs between January 2015 and June 2018. All analyses are descriptive.
Results: The median age at lung cancer diagnosis in the Romanian cohort was 67.5 years, with 68% females. The distribution of EGFR TKIs was 50% erlotinib, 31% afatinib, and 19% gefitinib. First line treatment was stopped in 76 (84%) patients due to progression (79%), toxicities (3%), the patient’s decision (1%) or surgery (1%). The median progression- free survival on 1L treatment was 12.0 months (95% CI 10.3-15.6), and the median overall survival from the start of first line therapy was 26.4 months (95% CI 22.4-34.2). EGFR T790M mutation testing was performed on 69% of patients at the time of progression on 1L therapy, with 57% of patients testing positive. Second-line (2L) therapy was started in 63% of patients discontinuing 1L therapy. Third-line treatment was started in 50% of patients discontinuing 2L treatment.
Conclusion: Survival results mirrored those of randomized trials. The suboptimal T790M testing rate (69%) underlines the importance of reflex testing procedures, while attrition rates on 1L (26%) emphasize the need for an upfront selection of the most effective treatments.