A Retrospective, Multicenter Analysis Within the National Network Genomic Medicine Lung Cancer in Germany to Detect RET Fusions as a Possible Mechanism of Resistance in Patients With EGFR Mutations
Blood tests can detect genetic changes signaling drug resistance before tumors show on scans, potentially allowing faster treatment switches in lung cancer.
This multicenter German registry study characterizes RET fusions as an acquired resistance mechanism in EGFR-mutant NSCLC, demonstrating that personalized ddPCR liquid biopsy can detect molecular progression ahead of clinical and radiologic recurrence, supporting early treatment adjustment. While the cohort (n=9) is very small, the real-world data on combined EGFR+RET inhibition and the liquid biopsy monitoring approach provide clinically actionable proof-of-concept.
What the study was
- Study design
- Retrospective multicenter observational study
- Population
- Patients with advanced EGFR-mutated NSCLC and co-occurring RET fusions; German nNGM Lung Cancer network 2018-2024
- Sample size
- 9
- Category
- Diagnostics
- Maturity
- Exploratory
- Journal
- Clinical Lung Cancer
Why it surfaced
Liquid biopsy enabling early resistance detection before clinical progression; first real-world data on EGFR+RET dual inhibition from major German genomic medicine network; limited by very small n=9.
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