Dabrafenib + trametinib (BRAF/MEK inhibition) shows longer PFS/OS when prior chemo exposure is brief in BRAF V600E mNSCLC

Dabrafenib (BRAF inhibitor) plus trametinib (MEK inhibitor) was evaluated in a post hoc subgroup analysis of the Phase II NCT01336634 sub-cohort B, limited here to patients with metastatic stage IV BRAF V600E NSCLC treated in the second-line setting after prior systemic chemotherapy (n=38). Patients with ≤4 weeks of prior chemotherapy (n=11) had numerically longer investigator-assessed median PFS vs those with >4 weeks (19.3 vs 9.7 months; p=0.101) and numerically longer median OS (55.2 vs 19.2 months; p=0.388), though follow-up was far longer in the ≤4-week group (55.2 vs 17.0 months), raising the risk of time/selection bias; as a benchmark, typical post-platinum second-line docetaxel + ramucirumab delivers mOS 10.5 months and docetaxel alone mOS 9.1 months in an unselected NSCLC population (REVEL).