Dabrafenib in combination with trametinib in the treatment of patients with BRAF V600-positive advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer: clinical evidence and experience

Mutations in the BRAF oncogene are found in 2–4% of all non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The most common activating mutation present within the BRAF oncogene is associated with valine substitution for glutamate at position 600 (V600E) within the BRAF kinase. BRAF-targeted therapies are effective in patients with melanoma and NSCLC harboring BRAF V600E mutation. In both melanoma and NSCLC, dual inhibition of both BRAF and the downstream mitogen-activated protein kinase (MEK) improves response rates compared with BRAF inhibition alone. BRAF-MEK combination therapy (dabrafenib plus trametinib) demonstrated tolerability and efficacy in a recent phase II clinical trial and was approved by the European Medicines Agency and United States Food and Drug Administration for patients with stage IV NSCLC harboring BRAF V600E mutation. Here, in this review, we outline the preclinical and clinical data for BRAF and MEK inhibitor combination treatment for NSCLC patients with BRAF V600E mutation.