Onkológia 6/2015

The treatment of ALK-positive NSCLC ceritinib – view panel of experts Purpose: To find out the opinion of the Panel of experts on the effectiveness and

Purpose: To find out the opinion of the Panel of experts on the effectiveness and safety of ceritinib, and on the management of patients treated and potentially treated with ceritinib, in real clinical practice in Slovakia. Methods: Delphi method, with the participation of seven experts in the Panel. Fill out of the questionnaire in the electronic form took place in October 2015. Descriptive statistics has been used for the data processing. Results: The panel participants agreed on the main benefits of ceritinib treatment – high efficacy, use in treatment indication (second line of targeted treatments aimed at activated ALK gene) where no possibillity existed, and the effectiveness of treatment in patients with metastases in the brain. Answers to other questions from the questionnaire, given by the Slovak experts, were generally in conformity with the information published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the internationally accepted recommendations for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. The estimated proportion of the patients, who would be in the performance status allowing for subsequent treatment with ceritinib after failure of crizotinib, was 70%. Conclusion: The panel of experts agreed on responses to questions concerning the possible use of ceritinib in clinical practice in Slovakia, and in the estimate of patients who could be treated with ceritinib after crizotinib failure.

Keywords: non-small cell lung cancer, ceritinib, a panel of experts, the Delphi method.