Real-World Biomarker Testing Patterns in Patients With Metastatic Non-Squamous Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) in a US Community-Based Oncology Practice Setting

This real-world chart review study observed increases in biomarker testing after both targeted drug approvals and after inclusion in national treatment guidelines. Despite these improvements, approximately 10% of patients never received any biomarker testing, and more than one third of patients with positive biomarker tests do not receive targeted therapy. Further work is needed to understand barriers in patient care Introduction/Background: This study was designed to descr ibe real-wor ld changes in biomarker testing among patients with non-squamous, metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) in a community oncology setting from 2015 to 2020. Patients and Methods: This retrospective study randomly selected 500 adult patients diagnosed with nonsquamous mNSCLC to undergo chart review and data extraction. Data were extracted and validated by 2 independent abstractors. Biomarker testing rates were described before and after national guideline updates and FDA approval of targeted agents. Results: At least 1 biomarker test was received by 89.4% of patients with mNSCLC. Of all patients, 46.6%, 34.6%, and 8.2% received both single-gene and next generation sequencing (NGS)-based testing, single-gene testing only, and NGS-based testing only, respectively. However, there were changes in testing rates at the time of drug approvals for targeted agents. Biomarker testing increased for ALK (45.0% before to 78.3% after ALK-targeted drug approval), BRAF (from 20.0% to 67.8%), EGFR (from 20.0% to 78.2%), NTRK (from 34.6% to 55.7%), and ROS1 (increased from 29.6% before approval to 74.2% after). Biomarker testing increased after changes were made to national guidelines for BRAF (from 18.8% before to 68.1% after inclusion in guidelines), NTRK (from 37.2% to 56.5%), and ROS1 (increased from 40.8% to 74.5% after guideline updates). Targeted therapy was received by 62.4% of patients with a positive biomarker. Conclusion: Increases in biomarker testing rates were observed relative to targeted agent approvals and national guideline updates. However, many patients with non-squamous mNSCLC did not receive full genotyping in accordance with national guidelines and represent an opportunity to identify reasons and solutions for barriers to care.Clinical Lung Cancer, Vol. 24, No. 5, 429-436 & COPY; 2023 Published by Elsevier Inc.