The European Society for Medical Oncology Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) applied to pivotal phase III randomized-controlled trials of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in first-line for advanced non-small cell lung cancer with activating epidermal growth factor receptor mutations.

INTRODUCTION: To examine the magnitude of the clinical benefit from first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutations. Areas covered: The present evaluation was restricted to pivotal phase III RCTs in first-line for advanced NSCLC with activating EGFR-mutations. We have subsequently applied the European Society for Medical Oncology-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) to the above pivotal phase III RCTs, to derive a relative ranking of the magnitude of clinically meaningful benefit. Our study evaluated 8 phase III RCTs (including 1710 patients). The ESMO-MCBS reached high grade (grade 4) for all TKIs treatments with at least one phase III RCT for each TKI. Expert commentary: Combining pharmacological costs of drugs with the measure of efficacy, afatinib has the lowest difference in costs per month-PFS gained and a comparable high grade of magnitude of clinical benefit.