SWOG’s Lung Cancer Master Protocol (Lung-MAP) precision medicine trial is implementing new protocols and expanding to include all advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer patients, moving beyond its initial population of advanced stage squamous cell lung cancer. The new population of patients in Lung-MAP comprises about 85% of all lung cancer diagnoses in the U.S., according to SWOG.

Lung-MAP will also begin using liquid biopsies in its patient screenings. Advances in the field suggest liquid biopsies are increasingly capable of picking up actionable tumor genome signals from minuscule amounts of cell-free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), circulating tumor cells (CTCs) or tumor-educated blood platelets (TEPs), and sequencing their genomes in a comprehensive, unbiased manner (see “Next-Generation Growth Spurt”).

The trial will begin enrolling patients in two substudies early this year: One will test a PARP inhibitor, and the other will evaluate an anti-PD-L1 and VEGF inhibitor combination. Two additional substudies are slated to start in late summer.

Since its June 2014 launch, the five-year study has registered more than 1,800 U.S. patients. It was designed by Friends of Cancer Research in collaboration with FDA (see “Lung Cancer Master Protocol Study to Start Monday”).

The trial uses an umbrella design to test multiple treatments simultaneously, and can be amended as drugs enter and exit the trial.

PARP – Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase; PD-L1 (B7-H1; CD274) – Programmed cell death 1 ligand 1; VEGF – Vascular endothelial growth factor.

https://www.biocentury.com/bc-extra/clinical-news/2019-01-29/lung-map-e…