LAUSR

Abstract Background Second-generation anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) alectinib and brigatinib have shown efficacy as front-line treatments for ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). No head-to-head data are currently available for brigatinib vs alectinib in the ALK-TKI–naive population. Objective To estimate the relative overall survival (OS) for brigatinib vs alectinib with indirect treatment comparisons (ITCs) using ALEX and ALTA-1L clinical trial data. Methods The latest aggregate data from the ALEX trial and final patient-level data from ALTA-1L were used. ITCs were conducted with/without treatment crossover adjustments to estimate relative OS. Bucher methods, anchored matching-adjusted indirect comparisons (MAICs) and unanchored MAICs were employed in ITCs without treatment crossover adjustments. An inverse probability of censoring weight Cox model, a marginal structure model and rank-preserving structural failure time models (with/without re-censoring) within an anchored MAIC were used in ITCs with treatment crossover adjustments. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported. Results HRs for brigatinib vs alectinib for relative OS generated from ITCs without treatment crossover adjustments ranged from 0.90 (95% CI: 0.59–1.38) in the unanchored MAIC to 1.20 (95% CI: 0.69–2.11) using the Bucher method. Methods employing treatment switching adjustments estimated HRs for relative OS ranging from 0.74 (95% CI: 0.38–1.45) to 1.11 (95% CI: 0.63–1.94). Results from all ITCs did not indicate statistically different survival profiles. Conclusion Regardless of ITC methodology, OS is comparable for brigatinib vs alectinib in patients with ALK+ NSCLC previously untreated with an ALK inhibitor.