Scientific publications

Safety and Efficacy of Crizotinib in Patients With Advanced or Metastatic ROS1-Rearranged Lung Cancer (EUCROSS): A European Phase II Clinical Trial. Scientific Publication

Jul 1, 2019 | Magazine: Journal of Thoracic Oncology

Sebastian Michels  1 , Bartomeu Massutí  2 , Hans-Ulrich Schildhaus  3 , Jeremy Franklin  4 , Martin Sebastian  5 , Enriqueta Felip  6 , Christian Grohé  7 , Delvys Rodriguez-Abreu  8 , Diana S Y Abdulla  1 , Helge Bischoff  9 , Christian Brandts  5 , Enric Carcereny  10 , Jesús Corral  11 , Anne-Marie C Dingemans  12 , Eva Pereira  13 , Jana Fassunke  14 , Rieke N Fischer  1 , Masyar Gardizi  1 , Lukas Heukamp  15 , Amelia Insa  16 , Anna Kron  1 , Roopika Menon  17 , Thorsten Persigehl  18 , Martin Reck  19 , Richard Riedel  1 , Sacha I Rothschild  20 , Andreas H Scheel  14 , Matthias Scheffler  1 , Petra Schmalz  21 , Egbert F Smit  22 , Meike Limburg  1 , Mariano Provencio  23 , Niki Karachaliou  24 , Sabine Merkelbach-Bruse  14 , Martin Hellmich  4 , Lucia Nogova  1 , Reinhard Büttner  14 , Rafael Rosell  25 , Jürgen Wolf 


Introduction: ROS1 rearrangements are found in 1% of lung cancer patients. Therapeutic efficacy of crizotinib in this subset has been shown in early phase trials in the United States and East Asia. Here we present data on efficacy and safety of a prospective phase II trial evaluating crizotinib in European ROS1-positive patients (EUCROSS).

Patients and methods: The trial was a multicenter, single-arm phase II trial (Clinicaltrial.gov identifier: NCT02183870). Key eligibility criteria included patients who were 18 years of age or older with advanced/metastatic lung cancer and centrally confirmed ROS1-rearranged lung cancer (fluorescence-in situ hybridization). Treatment included 250 mg crizotinib twice daily. The primary endpoint was investigator-assessed objective response rate (ORR) (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors, version 1.1). Key secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival, efficacy by independent radiologic review, safety, health-related quality of life, and molecular characterization of tumor tissue.

Results: Thirty-four patients received treatment. Four patients were excluded from efficacy analysis. Investigator ORR was 70% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 51-85; 21 of 30 patients) and median PFS was 20.0 months (95% CI: 10.1-not reached). Two patients with ROS1 wild-type sequences assessed by DNA sequencing had progression as best response. CD74-ROS1-positive patients had a trend towards a higher ORR and longer median PFS. TP53-co-mutant patients had a significantly shorter median PFS than wild-type patients (7.0 months, 95% CI: 1.7-20.0 versus 24.1 months, 95% CI: 10.1-not reached; p = 0.022). Treatment-related adverse events were documented in 33 of 34 patients (97%).

Conclusions: Crizotinib is highly effective and safe in patients with ROS1-rearranged lung cancer. ROS1-/TP53-co-aberrant patients had a significantly worse outcome compared to TP53 wild-type patients.

CITATION J Thorac Oncol. 2019 Jul;14(7):1266-1276. doi: 10.1016/j.jtho.2019.03.020. Epub 2019 Apr 9.