OBJECTIVES: Lung cancer has emerged as a major health concern in Mexico. Rarely detected in its early stages, 98% of patients are diagnosed with advanced disease, 35% presenting an epidermal growth factor receptor mutation (EGFR+) and 7.6% presenting anaplastic lymphoma kinase rearrangements (ALK+). For patients with these punctual alterations, targeted therapies are recommended in Clinical Practice Guidelines as first-line treatment options; however, Mexico’s scenario may differ due to the fragmented healthcare system, affordability and other barriers that limit patients’ access to treatment. Despite this, there is a lack of studies regarding real-world treatment patterns in Mexico.

This real-world study aimed to characterize the therapy patterns for ALK+ and EGFR+ NSCLC patients in both private and public healthcare sectors in Mexico.

METHODS: Using the IQVIA-Oncology Dynamics database, which collects cross-sectional anonymized patient-level data, we conducted a descriptive analysis using clinical and treatment data of NSCLC patients treated between 07/2021 and 07/2022 in Mexico.

RESULTS: Data from 330 patients were analyzed, with 120 patients (36%) EGFR+ and 31 (9%) ALK+.

110 EGRF+ patients were in 1^st line. From these, 33 (30%) were treated in the private sector, all of them with targeted therapy, and 77 (70%) were treated in the public sector with only 3 (4%) of them receiving chemotherapy.

For the 30 ALK+ patients in 1^st line, 14 (47%) were treated in private sector, all of them with targeted therapy, and 16 (53%) in public sector, with 8 (50%) of them receiving chemotherapy.

CONCLUSIONS: Targeted therapies are the standard of care in the private sector whereas the public sector has a high use of targeted therapies for EGFR mutations but a very low use for ALK rearrangements. This inequality in access to innovative therapies for ALK+ patients in the public sector results in a higher out-of-pocket expense for these patients.