A large real-world study of 26,635 advanced NSCLC patients found significant survival differences based on biomarker status, with ALK-positive patients achieving nearly 40 months median survival compared to 12-16 months for those without driver mutations.
Medication costs varied substantially by biomarker group, with the average annual treatment cost reaching $120,000 and two-year costs approximately $183,000 across all patients.
Patients without driver alterations showed consistently higher "cost per survivor" ratios, requiring about $500,000 to keep one low PD-L1 patient alive for two years versus $363,000 for ALK-positive patients.
The findings highlight critical gaps in community biomarker testing, where only 37% of NSCLC patients receive all nine recommended biomarker tests despite 83% having at least one test performed.
