Continued CNS-Penetrant TKI Therapy With or Without Local CNS Therapy After Brain Metastasis Diagnosis in NSCLC

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

6-2026

Publication Title

Journal of Clinical Oncology

Abstract

Background: Patients with oncogene-driven metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with CNS-penetrant tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) frequently develop brain metastases (BM) while continuing targeted therapy, and outcomes of adding local CNS-directed therapy in this setting are not well defined. We evaluated outcomes associated with local CNS therapy after post-TKI BM diagnosis. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the TriNetX Global Collaborative Network. Adults with NSCLC treated with osimertinib or lorlatinib who subsequently had a coded diagnosis of BM (ICD-10 C79.31) at least 1 month after TKI initiation and evidence of continued TKI use were included. Patients were stratified by receipt of CNS-directed local therapy (SRS/SBRT or neurosurgery) within 3 months of the index BM diagnosis versus no local therapy. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality within 180 days of the index event. Secondary outcomes included hospitalization and systemic corticosteroid use. Cohorts were balanced using 1:1 propensity score matching on demographics, comorbidities, extracranial disease, laboratory values, and TKI exposure. Survival analyses were performed, and proportional hazards assumptions were validated using Schoenfeld residuals (p.0.05). Results: Among 1,157 eligible patients, 1,053 matched pairs were generated. Within 180 days of the index brain metastasis diagnosis, mortality was lower among patients who received local CNS therapy compared with those who did not (10.9% vs 18.1%), corresponding to a hazard ratio (HR) for death of 0.54 (95% CI 0.43–0.68; p,0.001). Survival probabilities at 180 days were 88.7% in the local therapy cohort and 80.2% in the no local therapy cohort. Hospitalization within 180 days occurred in 20.3% of patients receiving local therapy and 22.4% of those without local therapy (p=0.24), with a nonsignificant trend toward delayed hospitalization (HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.69–1.01). Systemic corticosteroid use was common and similar between groups (61.3% vs 59.4%; p=0.40), with no significant difference in time to steroid initiation. In an osimertinib-only sensitivity analysis, 180-day mortality was 10.5% among patients receiving local CNS therapy compared with 19.4% among those without local therapy (HR 0.48, 95% CI 0.37–0.61; p,0.001). Conclusions: In this multi-institutional real-world cohort of patients with NSCLC receiving osimertinib or lorlatinib who developed BM, receipt of local CNS-directed therapy within 3 months was associated with lower 6-month mortality compared with continuation of targeted therapy alone, with consistent findings in an osimertinib-only sensitivity analysis. These results suggest a potential survival benefit of local CNS intervention in selected patients, while acknowledging residual confounding related to intracranial disease burden and clinical indication.

Volume

44

Issue

16 Suppl

First Page

2036

Comments

American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, May 29 - June 2, 2026, Chicago, IL

Last Page

2036

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2026.44.16_suppl.2036

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