Optimising primary molecular profiling in NSCLC

Introduction Molecular profiling of NSCLC is essential for optimising treatment decisions, but often incomplete. We assessed the efficacy of protocolised molecular profiling in the current standard-of-care (SoC) in a prospective observational study in the Netherlands and measured the effect of providing standardised diagnostic procedures. We also explored the potential of plasma-based molecular profiling in the primary diagnostic setting. Methods This multi-centre prospective study was designed to explore the performance of current clinical practice during the run-in phase using local SoC tissue profiling procedures. The subsequent phase was designed to investigate the extent to which comprehensive molecular profiling (CMP) can be maximized by protocolising tumour profiling. Successful molecular profiling was defined as completion of at least EGFR and ALK testing. Additionally, PD-L1 tumour proportions scores were explored. Lastly, the additional value of centralised plasma-based testing for EGFR and KRAS mutations using droplet digital PCR was evaluated. Results Total accrual was 878 patients, 22.0% had squamous cell carcinoma and 78.0% had non-squamous NSCLC. Stage I-III was seen in 54.0%, stage IV in 46.0%. Profiling of EGFR and ALK was performed in 69.9% of 136 patients included in the run-in phase, significantly more than real-world data estimates of 55% ( p <0.001). Protocolised molecular profiling increased the rate to 77.0% ( p =0.049). EGFR and ALK profiling rates increased from 77.9% to 82.1% in non-squamous NSCLC and from 43.8% to 57.5% in squamous NSCLC. Plasma-based testing was feasible in 98.4% and identified oncogenic driver mutations in 7.1% of patients for whom tissue profiling was unfeasible. Conclusion This study shows a high success rate of tissue-based molecular profiling that was significantly improved by a protocolised approach. Tissue-based profiling remains unfeasible for a substantial proportion of patients. Combined analysis of tumour tissue and circulating tumour DNA is a promising approach to allow adequate molecular profiling of more patients. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Clinical Trial NCT 02894853 ### Funding Statement This study was an investigator-initiated trial, designed by the authors and financially supported by unrestricted grants from Merck Sharp & Dohme (Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA), AstraZeneca (Cambridge, United Kingdom), Novartis (Basel, Switzerland), Pfizer (New York City, New York, USA) and Roche (Basel, Switzerland). The study sponsors approved the manuscript, but they had no role in the design and conduct of the study collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data preparation of the manuscript and decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The authors received no personal funding for this work. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: Medical ethics committee of the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, The Netherlands: metc{at}nki.nl I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes Data are available from the Netherlands Cancer Institute Institutional Data Access (contact via schouten.rd{at}outlook.com) for researchers who meet the criteria for access to confidential data.