Pharmacotherapeutic group: antineoplastic agents, protein kinase inhibitors, ATC code: L01EX14
Mechanism of action
Entrectinib is an inhibitor of the tropomyosin receptor tyrosine kinases TRKA, TRKB and TRKC (encoded by the neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase [NTRK] genes NTRK1, NTRK2 and NTRK3, respectively), proto‑oncogene tyrosine‑protein kinase ROS (ROS1), and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), with IC50 values of 0.1 to 2 nM. The major active metabolite of entrectinib, M5, showed similar in vitro potency and activity against TRK, ROS1, and ALK.
Fusion proteins that include TRK, ROS1 or ALK kinase domains drive tumourigenic potential through hyperactivation of downstream signalling pathways leading to unconstrained cell proliferation. Entrectinib demonstrated in vitro and in vivo inhibition of cancer cell lines derived from multiple tumour types, including subcutaneous and intracranial tumours, harbouring NTRK, ROS1, and ALK fusion genes.
Prior treatments with other drugs that inhibit the same kinases may confer resistance to entrectinib. Resistance mutations in the TRK kinase domain identified following entrectinib discontinuation include NTRK1 (G595R, G667C) and NTRK3 (G623R, G623E and G623K). Resistance mutations in the ROS1 kinase domain identified following entrectinib discontinuation include G2032R, F2004C and F2004I.
The molecular causes for primary resistance to entrectinib are not known. It is therefore not known if the presence of a concomitant oncogenic driver in addition to an NTRK gene fusion affects the efficacy of TRK inhibition.
Clinical efficacy and safety
NTRK gene fusion‑positive solid tumours
Efficacy in adult patients
The efficacy of Rozlytrek was evaluated in a pooled sub‑group of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic solid tumours with a NTRK gene fusion enrolled in one of three multicentre single‑arm, open‑label clinical trials (ALKA, STARTRK‑1 and STARTRK‑2) or the multicentre multi-cohort, single-arm open-label clinical trial, TAPISTRY. To be included in the pooled subgroup, patients were required to have confirmed NTRK gene fusion‑positive solid tumours; measurable disease per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (RECIST) v1.1; at least 12 months of follow‑up from the first post-treatment initiation tumour assessment, and no prior therapy with a TRK inhibitor (patients with concomitant driver mutations, where known, were excluded). Patients with primary CNS tumours were assessed separately using Response Assessment in Neuro‑Oncology Criteria (RANO). Patients received Rozlytrek 600 mg orally once daily until unacceptable toxicity or disease progression. The primary efficacy endpoints were objective response rate (ORR) and duration of response (DOR) as evaluated by Blinded Independent Central Review (BICR) according to RECIST v1.1.
Efficacy was assessed in 242 adult patients with solid tumours with an NTRK gene fusion enrolled in these trials. The baseline demographic and disease characteristics were: 47.5% males, median age of 58 years (range 19 years to 92 years), 37.2% and 9.9% were 65 years or older and 75 years or older respectively, 49.4% white Caucasian, 36.5% Asian, 3.3% Hispanic or Latino and 61.9% never smokers. The ECOG (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group) performance status at baseline was 0 (42.1%), 1 (50%), or 2 (7.9%). Most patients (95.5%) had metastatic disease [most common sites being lung (62.8%), lymph nodes (49.2%), liver (33.1%), bone (31%), and brain (16.5%)], 4.5% patients had locally advanced disease. 76.9% and 52.5% of patients had received surgery and radiotherapy for their cancer, respectively. 71.5% patients had received prior systemic therapy for their cancer including chemotherapy (61.6%) and 37.2% patients had no prior systemic therapies for metastatic disease. The most common cancers were lung cancer (24.8%), sarcoma (19%), salivary gland tumours (15.7%), thyroid cancer (13.6%), colorectal cancer (7%), and breast cancer (7%). The overall median duration of follow‑up was 35.1 months.
Efficacy results from patients with NTRK gene fusion‑positive solid tumours are summarised in Table 7.
Table 7: Overall efficacy by BICR in adults with NTRK gene fusion-positive solid tumours
| Efficacy endpoint | Rozlytrek n = 242 |
| Primary endpoints (BICR assessed; RECIST 1.1) |
| Objective response rate Number of responses ORR% (95% CI*) Complete response, n (%) Partial response, n (%) | 152/242 62.8% (56.4, 68.9) 41 (16.9%) 111 (45.9%) |
| Duration of response** Number (%) of patients with events Median, months (95% CI) 6-month durable response % (95% CI) 9-month durable response % (95% CI) 12-month durable response % (95% CI) | 86/152 (56.6%) 22 (16.6, 30.4) 85% (80, 91) 78% (71, 84) 69% (62, 77) |
| *Confidence Intervals (CI) calculated using the Clopper-Pearson method. **Median and event-free rates based on Kaplan-Meier estimates |
Objective response rate and duration of response by tumour type in adult patients with NTRK gene fusion‑positive solid tumours is presented in Table 8 below.
Table 8: Efficacy by tumour type, in adults with NTRK gene fusion‑positive solid tumours
| Tumour type | Patients (n = 242) | ORR | DOR |
| n (%) | 95% CI | Range (months) |
| Sarcoma Non-small cell lung cancer Salivary (MASC) Breast cancer (secretory) Breast cancer (non-secretory) Breast cancer (NOS) Breast cancer (Ductal) Thyroid cancer Colorectal cancer Neuroendocrine cancers Head and neck Pancreatic cancer Unknown primary cancer Ovarian cancer Endometrial carcinoma Cholangiocarcinoma Gastrointestinal cancer (other) Gastrointestinal cancer (non-CRC) Neuroblastoma Prostate cancer Penile cancer Adrenal cancer | 46 60 38 12 2 2 1 33 17 8 5 6 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 | 29 (63) 38 (63.3) 32 (84.2) 10 (83.3) NE, PR NE, NE PD 20(60.6) 6 (35.3) 5 (62.5) 3 (60.0) 4 (66.7) 1 (33.3) Non CR/PD PR PR CR PD NE PD PD PD | (47.6, 76.8) (49.9, 75.4) (68.8, 94) (51.6, 97.9) NA NA NA (42.1, 77.1) (14.2, 61.7) (24.5, 91.5) (14.7, 94.7) (22.3, 95.7) (0.8, 90.6) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA | 2.8, 68.6* 3.1, 71.6 2.8, 73.5* 5.5, 69.9* 4.2 NA NA 5.6, 60.7 5.6*, 24* 7.4, 31.1 4.0, 56.5* 5.6*, 12.9 9.1 NA 38.2 9.3 30.4 NA NA NA NA NA |
| *Censored ORR: Objective Response Rate; DOR: Duration of Response; MASC: mammary analogue secretory carcinoma; NA: not applicable due to small number or lack of response; NOS: not otherwise specified; CRC: colorectal cancer; CR: complete response; PR: partial response; PD: progressive disease; NE: not estimable. |
Due to the rarity of NTRK gene fusion-positive cancers, patients were studied across multiple tumour types with a limited number of patients in some tumour types, causing uncertainty in the ORR estimate per tumour type. The ORR in the total population may not reflect the expected response in a specific tumour type.
The ORR in 122 patients that had broad molecular characterisation before Rozlytrek treatment was 59.8% (95% CI: 50.6, 68.6); of those, the ORR in 97 patients who had other genomic alterations in addition to NTRK gene fusion was 55.7% (95% CI: 45.2, 65.8) and the ORR in 25 patients without other genomic alterations was 76% (95% CI: 54.9, 90.6).
Intracranial response
A BICR assessment resulted in a subgroup of 36 adult patients with CNS metastases at baseline, including 20 patients with measurable CNS lesions. Intracranial (IC) response assessed by BICR according to RECIST v1.1 was reported in 14 out of these 20 patients (7 CR and 7 PR), for an ORR of 70% (95% CI: 45.7, 88.1) and median DOR of 19.7 months (95% CI: 7.4, 26.6). Five of these 20 patients had received intracranial radiotherapy to the brain within 2 months prior to starting Rozlytrek treatment.
Primary CNS tumour
Across the three trials, 16 adult patients with primary CNS tumours were treated with Rozlytrek with a minimum of 12 months of follow-up. Two out of the 16 adult patients had an objective response assessed by BICR according to RANO.
Efficacy in paediatric patients
Efficacy of Rozlytrek was assessed in 44 paediatric patients with solid tumours that have a NTRK gene fusion enrolled in STARTRK-NG or TAPISTRY.
To be included in the analysis, patients were required to have confirmed NTRK gene fusion-positive solid tumours; at least 6 months of follow-up, no prior therapy with a TRK inhibitor, received at least one dose of entrectinib and presenting with measurable or evaluable disease at baseline. Patients received Rozlytrek doses from 20 mg to 600 mg once daily. The primary efficacy endpoint was confirmed ORR as evaluated by BICR according to RECIST v1.1 for extracranial tumours and according to RANO for primary CNS tumours. The secondary efficacy outcome measures included duration of confirmed response as evaluated by BICR and time to first confirmed objective response (CR or PR).
The baseline demographic and disease characteristics were: 45.5% males, median age of 4 years (range: 2 months to 15 years), 52.3% white Caucasian, 34.1% Asian, and 9.1% Hispanic or Latino, with a median BSA of 0.73 m2 (range: 0.2-1.9 m2). At baseline, 23.8% of patients had metastatic disease, 76.2% of patients had locally advanced disease, and 43.2% of patients had no prior systemic therapies for their cancer. The majority of patients had received prior treatment for their cancer including surgery (n=24), radiotherapy (n=8) and/or systemic therapy (n=25). The sites for metastatic disease included other (4 patients), brain (3 patients) and lung (3 patients). 45.5% of patients had primary CNS tumours. The overall median duration of follow-up was 24.2 months.
Efficacy results from patients with NTRK gene fusion-positive solid tumours are summarised in Table 9.
Table 9: Overall efficacy by BICR in paediatric patients with NTRK gene fusion-positive solid tumours
| Efficacy endpoint | Rozlytrek n = 44 |
| Primary endpoints** |
| Objective response rate Number of responses ORR% (95% CI***) Complete response, n (%) Partial response, n (%) | 32/44 72.7% (57.21, 85.04) 20 (45.5%) 12 (27.3%) |
| Secondary endpoints** |
| DOR * Number (%) of patients with events Median, months (95% CI) 6-month durable response % (95% CI) 9-month durable response % (95% CI) 12-month durable response % (95% CI) | 6/32 (18.8%) NE (25.4, NE) 97% (90, 100) 97% (90, 100) 84% (70, 99) |
| NE = not estimable. *Median and event-free rates based on Kaplan-Meier estimates **Includes patients with measurable or evaluable disease. BICR analysis by RECIST v1.1 for solid tumours (24 patients) and by RANO criteria for primary CNS tumours (20 patients) ***Confidence Intervals (CI) calculated using the Clopper-Pearson method. |
Objective response rate and duration of response by tumour type in paediatric patients with NTRK gene fusion-positive solid tumours is presented in Table 10.
Table 10: Efficacy by tumour type in paediatric patients with NTRK gene fusion-positive solid tumours
| Tumour type | Patients (n=44) | ORR | DOR |
| n (%) | 95% CI | Range (months) |
| Primary CNS Infantile fibrosarcoma Spindle Cell Sarcoma (other) Melanoma Kidney cancer Thyroid cancer | 20 11 8 2 1 1 1 | 10 (50) 10 (90.9) 8 (100.0) PR; Non-CR/Non-PD CR PR CR | (27.2, 72.8) (58.7, 99.8) (63.1, 100) NA NA NA NA | 5.5, 42.3* 5.7*, 24* 5.4*, 23* 3.7* 42.4* 9.2* 11.1* |
| * Censored ORR: Objective Response Rate; DOR: Duration of Response; NA: not applicable due to small number or lack of response; CR: complete response; PR: partial response; PD: progressive disease |
Due to the rarity of NTRK gene fusion-positive cancers, patients were studied across multiple tumour types with a limited number of patients in some tumour types, causing uncertainty in the ORR estimate per tumour type. The ORR in the total population may not reflect the expected response in a specific tumour type.
ROS1-positive NSCLC
The efficacy of Rozlytrek was evaluated in a pooled sub‑group of patients with ROS1-positive metastatic NSCLC who received Rozlytrek 600 mg orally once daily and were enrolled in one of three multicentre single-arm, open label clinical trials (ALKA, STARTRK-1 and STARTRK-2). To be included in the pooled sub-group, patients were required to have histologically confirmed, recurrent or metastatic, ROS1-positive NSCLC, ECOG performance status ≤ 2, measurable disease per RECIST v1.1, ≥6 months of follow‑up, and no prior therapy with a ROS1 inhibitor. All patients were assessed for CNS lesions at baseline.
The primary efficacy endpoints were ORR and DOR, as evaluated by BICR according to RECIST v1.1. The secondary efficacy endpoints included PFS, OS, and in patients presenting with CNS metastases at baseline - IC-ORR and IC-DOR, (also evaluated by BICR using RECIST v1.1).
Efficacy was assessed in 161 patients with ROS1-positive NSCLC. The baseline demographic and disease characteristics were: 35.4% males, median age of 54 years (range 20 years to 86 years), 24.2% and 4.3% were older than 65 years and 75 years of age, respectively, 44.1% white Caucasian, 45.3% Asian, 4.3%, Black, 2.6% Hispanic or Latino and 62.7% never smokers. The ECOG (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group) performance status at baseline was 0 (41%), 1 (49.1%), or 2 (9.9%). Most patients (98.1%) had metastatic disease [most common sites being lymph nodes (69.6%), lung (50.3%) and brain (32.9%)], 1.9% patients had locally advanced disease and 37.3% patients had no prior systemic therapies for metastatic disease. ROS1 positivity was determined by NGS in 83% of patients, by FISH in 9% of patients, and by RT‑PCR in 8% of patients. The overall median duration of follow-up from receipt of the first dose was 15.8 months.
Efficacy results from patients with ROS1‑positive NSCLC are summarised in Table 11.
Table 11: Overall efficacy by BICR in patients with ROS1‑positive NSCLC
| Efficacy endpoint | Rozlytrek n = 161 |
| Primary endpoints (BICR‑assessed, RECIST 1.1) |
| Objective response rate Number of responses ORR% (95% CI***) Complete response, n (%) Partial response, n (%) | 108/161 67.1% (59.25, 74.27) 14 (8.7%) 94 (58.4%) |
| Duration of response* Number (%) of patients with events Range (months) 6‑month durable response % (95% CI) 9‑month durable response % (95% CI) 12‑month durable response % (95% CI) | 48/108 (44.4%) 1.8**, 42.3** 83% (76, 90) 75% (67, 84) 63% (53, 73) |
| Secondary endpoints (BICR‑assessed, RECIST 1.1) |
| PFS* Number (%) of patients with events 6‑month PFS % (95% CI) 9‑month PFS % (95% CI) 12‑month PFS % (95% CI) | 82/161 (50.9%) 77% (70, 84) 66% (58, 74) 55% (47, 64) |
| Overall survival* Number (%) of patients with events 6‑month OS % (95% CI) 9‑month OS % (95% CI) 12‑month OS % (95% CI) | 38/161 (23.6%) 91% (87, 96) 86% (81, 92) 81% (74, 87) |
| *Event-free rates based on Kaplan-Meier estimates **Censored ***Confidence Intervals (CI) calculated using the Clopper‑Pearson method. |
In the ROS1 positive NSCLC efficacy evaluable patients with ≥12 months of follow‑up (n = 94), the ORR was 73.4% (95% CI: 63.3, 82), the median DOR was 16.5 months (95% CI: 14.6, 28.6) and median PFS was 16.8 months (95% CI: 12, 21.4).
Intracranial response
A BICR assessment resulted in a subgroup of 46 ROS1-positive NSCLC patients with CNS metastases at baseline including 24 patients with measurable CNS lesions. Intracranial response assessed by BICR according to RECIST v1.1 was reported in 19 of these 24 patients (3 CR and 16 PR) for an ORR of 79.2% (95% CI: 57.8, 92.9). The percentage of patients (95% CI) with DOR ≥6 months, ≥9 months and ≥12 months was 76% (56, 97), 62% (38, 86), and 55% (29, 80), respectively (Kaplan-Meier estimates). Nine of these 24 patients had received intracranial radiotherapy to the brain within 2 months prior to starting Rozlytrek treatment.
Conditional approval
This medicinal product has been authorised under a so-called 'conditional approval' scheme. This means that further evidence on this medicinal product is awaited.
The European Medicines Agency will review new information on this medicinal product at least every year and this SmPC will be updated as necessary.
Paediatric population
The European Medicines Agency has deferred the obligation to submit the results of studies with Rozlytrek in one or more subsets of the paediatric population in the treatment with NTRK gene fusion‑positive locally advanced or metastatic solid tumours (see section 4.2 for information on paediatric use).