Alexander Drilon, MD - Uncovering Gene Fusions and Other Key Genomic Alterations in Lung, Thyroid, Colon, Breast, and Other Solid Tumors to Enable All Patients to Gain the Full Benefits of Targeted Treatment

PeerView Heart, Lung & Blood CME/CNE/CPE Audio Podcast

Go online to PeerView.com/PUE860 to view the activity, download slides and practice aids, and complete the post-test to earn credit. Gene fusions and other key alterations (NTRK, RET, and others) represent actionable targets in a substantial proportion of patients with solid tumors. Appropriate biomarker testing is crucial to identify all alterations that are treatable with current or investigational targeted therapies. Multikinase tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been used to treat such alterations, but they have limited efficacy. Therefore, next-generation TKIs with greater selectivity have been developed and approved for tumor-agnostic indications (such as NTRK alterations) and for specific tumor types (such as RET alterations in lung and thyroid cancers). These newer therapies have demonstrated impressive efficacy with favorable safety profiles, and their use can significantly improve patient outcomes and quality of life. The tumor-agnostic indications are anticipated to expand further, and novel options are also emerging for patients who have developed resistance to standard RET- and TRK-targeted therapies. In this PeerView educational offering, experts on gene fusion-positive solid tumors provide a cutting-edge update on the role and relevance of gene fusions and other key alterations in solid tumors. These KOLs offer guidance on how to best identify patients with gene alterations and discuss accumulating clinical evidence for the best use of targeted therapies, while also providing practical guidance for optimizing multidisciplinary and interprofessional strategies for biomarker testing and use of targeted therapy across solid tumors harboring NTRK and RET fusions and other actionable alterations. Upon completion of this activity, participants should be better able to: Describe the role of NTRK, RET, ALK, and other key genomic alterations in the oncogenesis of solid tumors, the importance of appropriate biomarker testing to identify patients with these alterations, and clinical evidence supporting the use of matched targeted therapies to optimize patient outcomes; Collaborate with the broader cancer care team to identify patients for biomarker testing, select appropriate tests to capture all relevant genomic alterations, including gene fusions, and interpret testing results to guide treatment selection; Apply the latest evidence and guidelines to individualize targeted therapy for patients with cancers harboring NTRK, RET, ALK, and other targetable genomic alterations; and Educate patients about the role of biomarker testing, risks and benefits of targeted therapies, and importance of selecting optimal therapy based on biomarker testing results and patient needs, values, and preferences.