Impact of rapid multigene assays with short turnaround time (TAT) on the development of precision medicine for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Authors: Matsumoto Shingo , Ikeda Takaya , Yoh Kiyotaka , Sugimoto Akira , Kato Terufumi , Kunimasa Kei , Nakamura Atsushi , Nakachi Ichiro , Kuyama Shoichi , Sakakibara-Konishi Jun , Daga Haruko , Iwama Eiji , Taima Kageaki , Furuya Naoki , Nosaki Kaname , Izumi Hiroki , Zenke Yoshitaka , Goto Koichi 
Published: June 2021

9094

Background: A variety of oncogene drivers have been identified in NSCLC and molecularly-stratified precision medicine has led to improved survival in advanced NSCLC. Next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based testing is utilized to detect actionable gene alterations; however, the TAT of NGS is often too long to translate into clinical decision making. Thus, rapid multi-gene testing alternatives are needed. Methods: A lung cancer genomic screening project (LC-SCRUM-Asia) capturing clinical outcome was established in 2013 to identify patients with oncogene drivers and to support the development of novel targeted therapies. Since February 2013 to May 2019 (LC-SCRUM-Asia 1st-phase), single gene testing and/or a targeted NGS assay, Oncomine Comprehensive Assay (OCA), were used for the genomic screening. Since June 2019 to December 2020 (2nd-phase), a multi-gene PCR assay (Amoy 9-in-1 test) and a rapid NGS assay (Genexus/Oncomine Precision Assay [OPA]) were also implemented as rapid multi-gene testing. Results: A total of 10667 Japanese NSCLC patients, including 6826 in the 1st-phase and 3841 in the 2nd-phase, were enrolled in the LC-SCRUM-Asia. Success rate for OCA: 93%, for 9-in-1 test: 98%, for Genexus/OPA: 96%. Median TAT for OCA: 21 days, for 9-in-1 test: 3 days, for Genexus/OPA: 4 days. The frequencies of genetic alterations detected in the 1st-/2nd-phase were EGFR: 17/24%, KRAS: 15/16%, HER2 ex20ins: 4/3%, ALK fusions: 3/3%, RET fusions: 3/2%, ROS1 fusions: 3/2%, MET ex14skip: 2/2%, BRAF V600E: 1/1%, NRG1 fusions: 0/0.2% and NTRK3 fusions: 0.05/0.04%. Overall percent agreement of 9-in-1 test compared with OCA for EGFR/KRAS/HER2/BRAF/MET/ALK/ROS1/RET/NTRK3 alterations was 98%, and that of OPA compared with OCA was 95%. The rate of patients who received targeted therapies as 1st-line treatment was significantly elevated in the 2nd-phase compared with the 1st-phase (510/3841 [13%] vs. 567/6826 [8%], p < 0.001). Through the genomic screening, 1410 (37%) and 1269 (18%) candidate patients for clinical trials of KRAS, HER2, BRAF, MET, ALK, ROS1, RET or TRK-targeted drugs were identified in the 2nd-phase and in the 1st-phase, respectively. The rate of patients who were actually enrolled into the genotype-matched clinical trials were also significantly higher in the 2nd-phase than in the 1st-phase (222 [6%] vs. 186 [3%], p < 0.001). In 1st-line treatments for advanced NSCLC patients, the median progression-free survival was 8.5 months (95% CI, 7.7−9.4) in the 2nd-phase (n = 1839) versus 6.1 months (95% CI, 5.9−6.3) in the 1st-phase (n = 4262) (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Both the 9-in-1 test and Genexus/OPA had short TATs (3−4 days), high success rates (96−98%) and good concordance (95−98%) compared with another NGS assay (OCA). These rapid multi-gene assays highly contributed to enabling precision medicine and the development of targeted therapies for advanced NSCLC.