Characteristics and Treatment Outcomes in Advanced-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients with a KRAS G12C Mutation: A Real-World Study

About 15% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harbor the Kirsten rat sarcoma homolog G12C mutation (KRAS(G12C)). Selective KRAS(G12C) inhibitors offer new treatment opportunities, but little is known about the prevalence, characteristics, and outcomes of standard-of-care treatment (SOC) in this population. We retrospectively assessed the clinicopathological features of patients with KRAS(G12C)-mutated advanced NSCLC and responses to SOC at two high-volume centers in Austria. Out of 2495 NSCLC patients tested, we identified 174 patients with advanced-stage disease carrying a KRAS(G12C) mutation. Most patients were ≥65 years old (55%), heavy smokers (55%), and presented with comorbidities. The most frequent co-alteration was TP53 (18%). PD-L1 expression was high (TPS ≥ 50%) in 31%, very high (TPS ≥ 90%) in 11%, and negative in 31% of patients. A total of 138 patients (79%) received oncologic systemic treatment. The most common first-line therapy (1 L) was anti-PD-1/PD-L1 plus platinum-based chemotherapy. Median overall survival measured from 1 L treatment was 15.3 months (95% CI, 8.6–21.9), 9.4 (95% CI, 5.3–13.5) from 2 L treatment, and 8.4 (95% CI, 1.7–15.1) from 3 L treatment. The time-to-next-treatment was 8.4 (95% CI, 5.2–11.6) from 1 L and 6.1 (95% CI, 2.7–9.7) months from 2 L to 3 L. These poor outcomes underscore the need for the implementation of new treatment options and for specific molecular testing.