Patient Characteristics, Testing and Treatment Patterns, and Outcomes in EGFR-Mutated Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Multinational, Real-World Study

Introduction Treatment landscape for advanced/metastatic NSCLC (aNSCLC) has evolved considerably over the past few decades with the advent of targeted therapies for epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated ( EGFRm +) aNSCLC treatment. This study described real-world patient and disease characteristics, treatment and practice patterns, and clinical, economic, and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in patients with EGFRm + aNSCLC. Methods Data were derived from the Adelphi NSCLC Disease Specific Programme™ (DSP™), a point-in-time survey conducted between July and December 2020. The survey included oncologists and pulmonologists, and their consulting patients (with physician-confirmed EGFRm + aNSCLC) from nine countries: the US, Brazil, the UK, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Japan, and Taiwan. All analyses were descriptive. Results Overall, 542 physicians reported data for 2857 patients (mean age 65.6 years), and most patients were female (56.0%), white (61.0%), and had stage IV disease at initial diagnosis (76.0%), and adenocarcinoma histology (89.0%). Most patients received EGFR -tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) therapy in first- (91.0%), second- (74.0%), and third-line (67.0%). The most common tumor samples and methods for EGFR detection were EGFR -specific mutation detection tests (44.0%) and core needle biopsy (56.0%). Median time to next treatment was 14.0 (IQR 8.0–22.0) months and disease progression was the main physician-reported reason for early discontinuation. The most common physician-reported disease symptoms were cough (51.0%), fatigue (37.0%), and dyspnea (33.0%). In patients assessed for PROs, mean EQ-5D-5L index and FACT-L health utility scores were 0.71 and 83.5, respectively. On average, patients lost 10.6 h of work/week for approximately 29.2 weeks due to EGFRm + aNSCLC. Conclusion This real-world multinational data set showed that most patients with EGFRm + aNSCLC were treated per the country relevant clinical guidelines, with progression as the main reason for early treatment discontinuation. For the included countries, these findings may offer a useful benchmark for decision makers to determine future allocation of healthcare resources for patients with EGFRm + aNSCLC.