Eric J. Sherman, MD, on the Efficacy of Cabozantinib in Refractory Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

At the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, CancerNetwork® sat down with Eric J. Sherman, MD, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, to discuss the efficacy of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) cabozantinib (Cabometyx) in radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer, as seen in the phase 3 COSMIC-311 trial (NCT03690388). Data from the trial revealed that cabozantinib yielded a notable benefit in progression-free survival (PFS) and has the potential to change clinical practice.

Transcript:

Another [study] that may change practice [is] a randomized phase 3 study of cabozantinib vs placebo that Marcia S. Brose, MD, PhD, of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, presented as part of the head neck oral session. That was also a positive study. It was only in patients who had prior VEGF TKIs. It was either in the second- or third-line [setting]. Patients [had to have] either [prior] sorafenib [Nexavar], lenvatinib [Lenvima] or both...and shown progression. [This trial] also showed a gigantic progression-free survival [benefit]; it was so big that the study was stopped early. There are a lot of questions still. We do not know what the true median PFS was because most patients were censored even before 9 months. The study reported early and we do not know what the mature data show.

Reference

Brose MS, Robinson , Sherman SI, et al. Cabozantinib versus placebo in patients with radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer who have progressed after prior VEGFR-targeted therapy: results from the phase 3 COSMIC-311 trial. J Clin Oncol. 2021;39(suppl 15):6001. doi:10.1200/JCO.2021.39.15_suppl.6001