Patients With Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Harboring MET Alterations: A Descriptive Cohort Study.

Abstract

Purpose: Mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (MET) alterations are rare oncogenic drivers in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study characterized patients with advanced NSCLC harboring MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping and MET amplification (METamp) in routine clinical practice in the United States.

Patients and methods: Using electronic medical record data from the ConcertAI Oncology Dataset (2004-2022), 2 patient cohorts were identified: 1 with METex14 skipping with or without METamp, and 1 with METamp without METex14 skipping. A subgroup with METamp and concomitant epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations who had received EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) was also analyzed. Patient characteristics, treatment patterns and outcomes were described.

Results: 93 patients with advanced NSCLC harboring METex14 skipping and 164 with advanced NSCLC harboring METamp were identified. Established oncogenic drivers other than MET were less frequent in the METex14 skipping cohort than the METamp cohort. In both cohorts, first-line chemotherapy use decreased over time while immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) and MET inhibitor use increased. Treatment patterns were heterogeneous, with patients receiving multiple drug classes across therapy lines. Outcomes were better for patients with METex14 skipping NSCLC who received targeted therapies or ICIs versus chemotherapy. Subgroup analyses of EGFR-TKI-treated patients with METamp indicated poor outcomes.

Conclusion: Patients with METex14 skipping and/or METamp NSCLC require targeted and personalized treatment approaches to optimize treatment effect and have an unmet medical need. With targeted therapies recently available and others under exploration, treatment outcomes could significantly improve for patients with NSCLC harboring these rare drivers.