Efficacy of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients with non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR exon 19 insertions: clinical-genomic, preclinical analysis through LC-SCRUM-Asia (multi-institutional genomic screening registry).

BACKGROUND

EGFR exon 19 insertions (EGFRex19ins) are rare EGFR mutations. Their clinical-genomic characteristics and outcomes with EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) remain uncertain.

METHODS

We evaluated the clinical-genomic characteristics and outcomes of EGFR-TKIs for EGFRex19ins in the multi-institutional prospective lung cancer genomic screening project (LC-SCRUM-Asia). We also studied preclinical Ba/F3 models expressing EGFR-K745_E746insIPVAIK (Ba/F3-IPVAIK) to investigate their sensitivity to 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd-generation, and EGFR exon 20 insertion-active TKIs.

RESULTS

In LC-SCRUM-Asia, 16,204 NSCLC patients were enrolled from March 2015 to December 2023. EGFRex19ins were detected in 13 samples (0.1 % of NSCLC). The median age was 72 years (range, 38-80); most patients were female (77 %), had adenocarcinoma (92 %), and were never-smokers (62 %). Twelve patients (93 %) had EGFR-K745_E746insIPVAIK, while one (7 %) had EGFR-K745_E746insVPVAIK. The most frequent co-mutation was TP53 (62 %); no patients had other driver alterations. Six patients (46 %) tested positive for EGFR exon 19 deletions with PCR-based Cobas EGFR test, likely due to cross-reactivity arising from sequence homology. Twelve patients received EGFR-TKIs; five (42 %) experienced partial response. In the preclinical study, Ba/F3-IPVAIK showed the highest sensitivity to 2nd-generation EGFR-TKIs compared to other EGFR-TKIs. Structural studies supported these consistent results. When broken down by EGFR-TKI generations, response rates for 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-generation TKIs were 50 % (1/2), 80 % (4/5), and 0 % (0/5), respectively. The median PFS for 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-generation TKIs were 8.7 (95 % CI, 7.4-NR), 14.7 (95 % CI, 8.0-NR), and 4.4 (95 % CI, 3.4-NR) months, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Our preclinical, structural, and clinical findings indicate 2nd-generation EGFR-TKIs are more effective for EGFRex19ins compared to other TKIs.