RET-positive Lung Cancer Video Perspectives

In this video, Jyoti D. Patel, MD, medical director of thoracic oncology and assistant director for clinical research at Northwestern University’s Lurie Cancer Center, discusses:

• the use of next-generation sequencing to identify RET fusion-positive lung cancer, noting that while “there is a prolonged turnaround time and they can be expensive, it really is the gold standard for looking for multiple molecular drivers in a single specimen”;
• treatment options for RET fusion-positive lung cancer, including selective RET inhibitors such as selpercatinib (Retevmo; Eli Lilly) and pralsetinib (Gavreto; Blueprint Medicines Corporation);
• how “we are now just beginning to understand how patients who receive one of these very selective tyrosine kinase inhibitors of RET develop resistance mechanisms,” and that many studies are now underway to assess the mechanisms of resistance to these treatments;
• challenges in the treatment of patients with RET fusion-positive lung cancer, the biggest of which is “unfortunately, we’re not detecting it early enough”; and
• where future research should focus in RET fusion-positive lung cancer, including efforts to understand resistance mechanisms and “developing next-generation TKIs that may make resistance more difficult.”