Sonidegib efficacious in treatment of locally advanced basal cell carcinoma

Treatment with sonidegib was safe and effective in patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma, according to study results presented at the American Academy of Dermatology virtual meeting.

“Sonidegib—an HHI that selectively targets Smoothened—is approved... for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma (laBCC) not amendable to curative surgery or radiation therapy,” Reinhard Dummer, MD, department of dermatology at the University of Zurich, and colleagues wrote.

A post hoc analysis evaluated efficacy in 66 patients with laBCC taking sonidegib 200 mg with common concomitant medications including NSAIDs, glucocorticoids and SADs.

Objective response rate (ORR), best overall response (BOR) and duration of response (DOR) were evaluated. Adverse events were also continually monitored through 30 days post-dose.

Results showed that the overall ORR in 66 was 71.2% (95% CI, 58.7%-81.7%) and median DOR was 15.7% (95% CI, 12.0%-20.2%). While the safety profile of sonidegib 200 mg was manageable and consistent with previous study analysis, at 42 months 97% of laBCC patients experienced adverse events grade 1-2 severity of muscle spasms (56.1%), alopecia (51.5%), dysgeusia (47.0%) and nausea (37.9%). Common concomitant medications were found to have no impact on treatment efficacy, according to the study.

“Sonidegib 200 mg daily led to clinically meaningful outcomes in patients with laBCC through 42 months of treatment, with a manageable tolerability profile,” Dummer and colleagues concluded. “The safety profile of sonidegib 200 mg daily was manageable and consistent with previous analysis.”