Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42842004›Full record

ArticleLung2026

Contemporary Chemotherapy Benchmarks for Molecularly Defined Advanced NSCLC: Reconstructed Individual Patient-Level Data of 22 Randomized Trials.

Deborah Di-Xin Zhou, Sarah J Lord, Frank Lin, Thomas John, Robert John Simes, Chee Khoon Lee

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Lung, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Deborah Di-Xin ZhouSydney Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Level 6, Lifehouse, 119-143 Missenden Rd, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia. deborah.zhou@sydney.edu.au.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5918-4439
Sarah J LordSydney Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Level 6, Lifehouse, 119-143 Missenden Rd, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia.
Frank LinSydney Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Level 6, Lifehouse, 119-143 Missenden Rd, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia.
Thomas JohnPeter MacCallum Cancer Centre, 305 Grattan St, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Robert John SimesSydney Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Level 6, Lifehouse, 119-143 Missenden Rd, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia.
Chee Khoon LeeSydney Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Level 6, Lifehouse, 119-143 Missenden Rd, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe increasing adoption of targeted therapies over chemotherapy has made randomized controlled trials (RCT) with chemotherapy increasingly challenging in advanced NSCLC with actionable genomic alterations (AGA), particularly for rare subgroups. Contemporary chemotherapy outcomes specific to AGAs are lacking despite growing reliance on single-arm studies and external-control analyses. We sought to establish first-line platinum-doublet chemotherapy outcomes in advanced NSCLC with AGAs using data from RCTs.

methodsWe extracted objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) data from Phase 2/3 RCTs. Individual patient-level data were reconstructed from Kaplan-Meier curves to pool and compare PFS and OS across AGAs.

resultsTwenty-two RCTs (n = 2132) were included. Across most AGAs, platinum-doublet chemotherapy produced similar outcomes-pooled ORRs ranging from 28.7 to 39.0% and median PFS from 6.0 to 7.3 months. Pairwise comparisons showed better ORR/PFS for RET fusion (one trial with control arm-chemotherapy/pembrolizumab) and shorter OS for KRAS mutation versus other AGAs (logrank P<.001). Detailed pooled ORR and median PFS and OS were: ALK rearrangement (n = 461)-ORR 39.0% (95% CI 25.8-52.2), PFS 7.0 months (6.8-7.2), OS 43.0 months (32.2-inestimable); common EGFR mutation (n = 1038)-ORR 28.7% (22.3-35.1), PFS 6.0 months (5.7-6.3), OS 27.4 months (26.1-29.3); uncommon EGFR mutation (n = 61)-ORR 35.1% (12.6-57.7), PFS 6.7 months (5.2-8.4), OS 29.5 months (13.3-inestimable); EGFR exon 20 insertion (n = 330)-ORR 38.3% (21.7-55.0), PFS 7.3 months (6.9-8.6), OS 30.1 months (29.1-inestimable); KRAS mutation (n = 140)-ORR 21.7% (12.4-30.9), PFS 6.2 months (4.7-6.9), OS 10.8 months (8.8-12.7); RET fusion (n = 102)-ORR 65.0% (54.5-75.5), PFS 11.4 months (8.9-16.9), OS not available.

conclusionPlatinum-doublet chemotherapy yields remarkably consistent ORR and PFS across most advanced NSCLC with AGAs. These data provide contemporary molecularly defined benchmarks that may support interpretation of single-arm studies, development of external-control analyses, and future trial design in this rare population.

Indexed as

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy ProtocolsCarcinoma, Non-Small-Cell LungLung NeoplasmsBenchmarkingClinical Trials, Phase III as TopicErbB ReceptorsHumansMutationProgression-Free SurvivalRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicErbB ReceptorsActionable genomic alterationsChemotherapy outcomesNSCLCReconstructed individual patient data

Identifiers

PMID42842004
PMCPMC13645942

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.