TUESDAY, June 2, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with RET fusion-positive advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the rearranged during transfection (RET) inhibitor, selpercatinib, yields significantly longer event-free survival, according to a study published online May 31 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, held from May 29 to June 2 in Chicago.
Yi‑Long Wu, M.D., from the Guangdong Lung Cancer Institute in Guangzhou, China, and colleagues conducted a phase 3, double-blind trial involving patients with RET fusion-positive NSCLC who had received definitive therapy with curative intent. Patients were randomly assigned to receive adjuvant selpercatinib or placebo for up to three years (75 and 76 patients, respectively).
The researchers found that the two-year investigator-assessed event-free survival was 92 and 61 percent with selpercatinib and placebo, respectively, among 109 patients with stage II or IIIA disease (hazard ratio for disease recurrence, progression, or death, 0.17). Investigator-assessed event-free survival was consistent with event-free survival as assessed by blinded independent central review. Investigator-assessed event-free survival at two years was 94 and 70 percent with selpercatinib and placebo, respectively, among the 151 patients with stage IB, II, or IIIA NSCLC (hazard ratio for disease recurrence, progression, or death, 0.17). Increased levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase were the most common adverse events observed during the treatment period. There were three deaths due to disease progression, all in the placebo group.
"These compelling results establish a new standard of care for a rare subset of lung cancer and are immediately practice-changing," David R. Spigel, M.D., the president and chief medical officer at Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, and an ASCO expert in lung cancer, said in a statement.
Several authors disclosed ties to biopharmaceutical companies, including Eli Lilly, which manufactures selpercatinib and funded the study.
