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Although previous studies have recognized that timely correction of anemia is desirable, no published research quantifies the association between the timeliness of the hemoglobin rise and patients' outcomes. This study evaluates whether anemic patients with cancer who are receiving chemotherapy and who experienced an early response to epoetin alfa (≥ 1 g/dL hemoglobin increase at the end of 4 weeks of treatment) experienced better clinical and drug utilization outcomes compared with patients who did not experience an early response. Three large, open-label, community studies of epoetin alfa for the treatment of chemotherapy-related anemia were retrospectively analyzed to assess the association of early hemoglobin response to subsequent transfusion requirements, subsequent hemoglobin response, quality of life, and epoetin alfa dosage administered over the study. Two epoetin alfa dosing regimens were evaluated: 10,000 units 3 times weekly with potential escalation to 20,000 units, and 40,000 units once weekly with potential escalation to 60,000 units. In all studies, patients who experienced an early hemoglobin response had statistically lower subsequent transfusion requirements, higher rates of subsequent hemoglobin response, shorter time to hemoglobin response, better improvements in quality of life scores, and lower average weekly epoetin alfa dose than patients who did not experience an early hemoglobin response. Similar proportions of patients experienced early response in the 3-times weekly and once-weekly epoetin alfa regimens. This ad hoc analysis found that early hemoglobin response to epoetin alfa therapy was associated with improved clinical benefits and drug utilization. Early hemoglobin response may therefore be considered as a desired goal of epoetin alfa therapies.

Background: Mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene have been identified in 10%–50% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Exon 20 insertion mutations represent about 2%–10% of this group. Reports of real world experience of NSCLC patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations are limited. This study describes patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and survival outcomes of NSCLC patients with EGFR exon 20 insertions based on real world data. Methods: Flatiron Health electronic health record data, largely from community oncology practices, from January 2011–April 2018 were used for this retrospective observational study. Treatment-naïve (TN) and relapsed/refractory (RR) second-line patients diagnosed with NSCLC with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutation aged ≥18 years at treatment initiation were included. Patient characteristics were described, and Kaplan-Meier analyses were used to assess real world overall survival (rwOS) separately for TN (starting at first-line therapy) and RR (starting at second-line therapy) patients. Results: There were 128 TN and 71 RR patients identified. Median age was 66.5 and 65.0 years for TN and RR patients, respectively, and over half were female (TN: 59.4%, RR: 53.5%). Among 83 TN and 47 RR patients with known ECOG score at advanced diagnosis, most had score 0–1 (TN: 56.3%; RR: 62.0%). Central nervous system metastases were observed in 35.2% of TN and 33.8% of RR patients. While 45.3% of TN patients received any chemotherapy, approximately 20% of both TN and RR patient groups had exposure to various EGFR TKIs. Overall, median rwOS was low at 14.6 months for TN patients, and 10.1 months for RR patients. Conclusion: Real world survival of patients with EGFR exon 20 NSCLC remains poor. Treatment with any chemotherapy regimen was most commonly used followed by EGFR TKIs in TN patients, while the proportion treated with chemotherapy and EGFR TKIs was similar in RR patients. Despite limited evidence in this population, over a fifth of TN and RR patients received EGFR TKI monotherapy. This study demonstrated unmet need for improved therapeutic options in TN and RR patients with NSCLC with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutation.