Abstract

Neethu R.*, Lokesh. Mahajan and Nishigandh Mokal

ABSTRACT

Selpercatinib, marketed as Retevmo or Retsevmo, is an orally administered drug that selectively inhibits the rearranged during transfection (RET) kinase. Its primary indication is the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with RET gene fusions. Additionally, selpercatinib has shown efficacy in other clinical applications, including the treatment of medullary thyroid cancer, papillary thyroid cancers, offering a targeted therapeutic option for patients with these RET-driven cancers. Selpercatinib demonstrated a favorable tolerability profile, with most adverse events being manageable through dose adjustments. The safety profile was acceptable, and only a limited number of patients were forced to discontinue treatment due to adverse events related to selpercatinib. This suggests that the benefits of selpercatinib can be achieved while minimizing the impact of treatment-related side effects. Recent clinical trials have confirmed the efficacy of selpercatinib (Retevmo) in treating cancers with RET gene alterations, outperforming standard treatments in prolonging progression-free survival for patients with lung cancer and thyroid cancer. Selpercatinib (Retevmo) is antineoplastic drug approved by FDA. This oral medication has been shown to effectively target and inhibit the abnormal proteins driving tumor growth in solid cancers with RET mutations or fusions, offering a promising therapeutic option for patients with these specific genetic changes.[1] The LIBRETTO-431 trial demonstrated that selpercatinib significantly improved treatment outcomes for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring RET fusions. Specifically, selpercatinib more than doubled the median progression-free survival compared to chemotherapy with or without pembrolizumab (Keytruda).[2] Furthermore, the LIBRETTO-531 trial showed that selpercatinib outperformed two others targeted therapies in patients with advanced medullary thyroid cancer containing RET mutations, achieving superior results in progression-free survival and other key measures.[3] On the basis of results obtained from clinical trials, selpercatinib drug is found to be providing progression free survival, efficacy, safety and have better tolerability profile while minimizing side effects as compared to other cancer treatment options.