A new treatment is available in Italy for a rare form of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer with exon 20 activating epidermal growth factor (EGFR) insertion mutations. The Italian Medicines Agency has in fact approved the reimbursement of the bispecific antibody amivantamab for patients affected by this neoplasm in an advanced stage, after failure of platinum-based chemotherapy.
In Italy, lung cancer affects over 40,000 people every year. Just over 1% of them are characterized by this mutation. Patients affected by it “have few therapeutic options available, not only in terms of number, but also in terms of effectiveness”, explains Filippo de Marinis, director of the Thoracic Oncology Division, deputy director of the Lung Cancer Program at the IEO in Milan. “In this context, the arrival of amivantamab is an important milestone because it represents the first specific therapy for patients with this type of lung cancer. Furthermore, clinical studies have shown superiority in terms of efficacy compared to standard therapies for this type cancer, making it possible to double the life expectancy of patients”.
The use of the new drug is part of a precision medicine approach, underlines Silvia Novello, professor of medical oncology at the University of Turin, head of Thoracic Oncology at the AOU San Luigi Gonzaga in Orbassano and president of WALCE. “Genetic tests, especially Next-Generation Sequencing, prove to be a key tool not only for a correct diagnosis, but also for a personalized therapeutic approach”, she says.
“The availability of amivantamab responds to the still unmet need to offer patients and clinicians for the first time in Italy and Europe a new therapeutic option for this type of lung cancer, which among the rare forms of EGFR is the most common”, concludes Danilo Arienti, Therapeutic Area Medical Manager of Janssen Italy.
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