How robust are conclusions about the comparative effectiveness of the ALK inhibitor alectinib vs ceritinib in crizotinib-refractory, ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer from indirect comparisons using real-world data (RWD)? This comparative effectiveness study including 355 patients found that alectinib exposure was associated with improved survival compared with ceritinib in both single-group trials and multicenter US RWD. Results were robust to a range of plausible assumptions about unmeasured confounding and missing Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status and underrecorded comorbidities in RWD. Alectinib exposure was associated with longer OS compared with ceritinib in patients with ALK-positive NSCLC, and only substantial levels of bias examined reversed the findings. These findings suggest that quantitative bias analysis can be a useful tool to address uncertainty of findings for decision-makers considering RWD. READ ARTICLE
JAMA Network Open DOI:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.26306
Authors: Wilkinson S, Gupta A, Scheuer N, Mackay E, Arora P, Thorlund K, Wasiak R, Ray J, Ramagopalan S, Subbiah V.
