Genomically matched therapy in advanced solid tumors: the randomized phase 2 ROME trial
Paolo Marchetti, Giuseppe Curigliano, Mauro Biffoni, Sara Lonardi, Simone Scagnoli, Lorenzo Fornaro, Valentina Guarneri, Ugo De Giorgi, Paolo A. Ascierto, Giovanni Blandino, Giulia d’Amati, Massimo Aglietta, Chiara Cremolini, PierFranco Conte, Edoardo Crimini, Maurizio Ceracchi, Simona Pisegna, Sofia Verkhovskaia, Roberto Bordonaro, Sergio Bracarda, Giovanni Butturini, Lucia Del Mastro, Andrea DeCensi, Agnese Fabbri, Elisabetta Fenocchio, Stefania Gori, Giulio Metro, Annamaria Pessino, Daniele Pozzessere, Fabio Puglisi, Stefano Tamberi, Alberto Zambelli, Donatella Marino, Ettore Capoluongo, Federico Cappuzzo, Bruna Cerbelli, Giuseppe Giannini, Umberto Malapelle, Federica Mazzuca, Marianna Nuti, Giancarlo Pruneri, Maurizio Simmaco, Lidia Strigari, Giuseppe Tonini, Nello Martini, Andrea Botticelli, on behalf of the ROME trial investigators consortia, Antonella Savarese, Vincenzo Adamo, Davide Quaresmini, Pierosandro Tagliaferri, P. Damiano, Benedetta Urbini, Carmelo Bengala, Elena Zaffignani, Carmine Pinto, Alicia Tosoni, L Buffoni, Evaristo Maiello, Claudia Mucciarini, Antonio Russo, Rossana Berardi, Giuseppe Lombardi, Alessandra Piancastelli, Gianluca Masi, Laura Bonanno, Vito Vanella, Francesca Mannozzi
Abstract
Despite recent advancements demonstrating the potential of tumor-agnostic biomarkers to guide effective therapies, randomized evidence supporting the clinical superiority of precision oncology approaches compared to standard therapies remains limited. The ROME trial was a multicenter, randomized, open-label phase 2 study comparing tailored treatment (TT) to standard of care (SoC) in patients with advanced solid tumors progressing after one or two lines of therapy. Comprehensive genomic profiling on tissue and blood was performed to identify actionable alterations. Overall response rate (ORR) was the primary endpoint, and progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), time to treatment failure (TTF), time to next treatment (TTNT) and safety were the secondary endpoints. Between November 2020 and August 2023, 1,794 patients were screened, 897 were evaluated by the molecular tumor board (MTB) and 400 were randomized to TT or SoC. TT achieved a significantly higher ORR (17.5% versus 10%; P = 0.0294) and improved median PFS (3.5 months versus 2.8 months; hazard ratio = 0.66 (0.53-0.82), P = 0.0002). TT also showed superior 12-month PFS rates (22.0% versus 8.3%). Median OS was similar, with a 52% crossover rate. Grade 3/4 adverse events were also similar (40% TT versus 52% SoC). These results highlight the potential of TT to improve outcomes for patients with diverse actionable genomic alterations. These results also provide relevant evidence supporting a tumor-agnostic precision oncology strategy and highlight the potential of TTs, guided by genomic profiling and MTB recommendations, to significantly improve outcomes for patients with diverse actionable genomic alterations. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04591431 .