Selpercatinib for previously untreated advanced RET fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer

Selpercatinib is in clinical development for the treatment of advanced or metastatic RET fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC is the most common type of lung cancer and at the metastatic stage the disease has already spread from the lungs to other sites. Advanced is when the cancer has progressed locally. Around 2% of patients with NSCLC will have a mutation or abnormal arrangement of a gene called RET (rearranged during transfection), which can allow uncontrolled cancer growth. Current treatment options are nonselective, meaning they do not inhibit RET receptors specifically.