Real-world survival outcomes in patients with locally advanced or metastatic NTRK fusion-positive solid tumors receiving standard-of-care therapies other than targeted TRK inhibitors

The clinical profiles and outcomes of patients with neurotrophic tropomyosin receptor kinase fusion-positive (NTRK(+)) solid tumors receiving standard of care other than tropomyosin receptor kinase inhibitor (TRKi) targeted therapy have not been well documented. Here, we describe the clinical characteristics of patients with NTRK(+) tumors treated in clinical practice using information from a United States electronic health record-derived clinicogenomic database. We also compared survival outcomes in NTRK(+) patients and matched NTRK fusion-negative (NTRK(–)) patients and investigated the clinical prognostic value of NTRK fusions. NTRK positivity was defined by the presence of a fusion or rearrangement involving NTRK1/2/3, determined using NGS (Foundation Medicine, Inc.). NTRK(+) patients (n = 28) were diagnosed with locally advanced/metastatic solid tumors between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2019 and had received no TRKis (e.g., entrectinib or larotrectinib) during their patient journey. The unselected NTRK(−)population comprised 24,903 patients, and the matched NTRK(−)cohort included 280 patients. NTRK(+) patients tended to be younger, were more commonly not smokers, and had a shorter time from advanced diagnosis to first NGS report, compared with unselected NTRK(−)patients; however, these differences were not significant. Median overall survival (OS) from advanced/metastatic diagnosis was 10.2 months (95% CI, 7.2–14.1) for the NTRK(+) cohort versus 10.4 months (95% CI, 6.7–14.3) for the matched NTRK(−)cohort; hazard ratio for death in NTRK(+) versus matched NTRK(−)patients was 1.6 (95% CI, 1.0–2.5; P = 0.05). Genomic co-alterations were rare in the NTRK(+) cohort (only two of 28 patients had a co-alteration). Overall, while hazard ratios suggest NTRK fusions may be a negative prognostic factor of survival, there are no significant indications of any favorable impact of NTRK fusions on patient outcomes. TRKis, with their high response rate and good tolerability, are likely to improve outcomes for patients compared with existing standard-of-care treatments.