A plain language summary of the SAVANNAH study: savolitinib plus osimertinib in patients with EGFR-mutated advanced non-small cell lung cancer with MET overexpression and/or amplification whose cancer had grown or spread on osimertinib

What is this summary about? In the SAVANNAH study, patients with a type of lung cancer called advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which had grown or spread (known as ‘progressed’) on previous osimertinib treatment, were treated with savolitinib plus osimertinib. Patients had NSCLC tumors with: An epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation. Increased levels of the MET protein (overexpression) or extra copies of the MET gene (amplification). What are the key takeaways? Of the 80 patients in the group of patients in which treatment effectiveness was assessed (known as the ‘primary efficacy population’), just over half (56%) had tumors that shrunk (known as a ‘tumor response’). In half of all patients who had a tumor response, the response continued for 7.1 months after the response started (known as ‘median duration of response’). The time at which half of the patients were alive, without their cancer having grown or spread (known as ‘median progression‐free survival’) was 7.4 months. What were the main conclusions reported by the researchers? Treatment with savolitinib plus osimertinib was associated with a high likelihood of tumor response in patients with EGFR-mutated advanced NSCLC and high levels of MET overexpression and/or amplification after previous osimertinib treatment. Side effects were considered tolerable and similar to those seen in other studies of savolitinib or osimertinib. Savolitinib plus osimertinib may provide a new targeted treatment option for these patients.