OBJECTIVES: The ESMO Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (MCBS), informed by stage III clinical trials or meta-analyses, anticipates the level of benefit from new drug cancer treatments. In 2016, the ESMO-MCBS issued relative scores to 8 new drugs/label extensions to treat IIIb/IV NSCLC. Ipsos compared these grades with real world data on prescribing and average satisfaction with these drugs/regimens when prescribed in clinical practice. METHODS: Real-world patient record database (Global Oncology Monitor^©), with data collected from January to December 2017 on stages IIIb/IV NSCLC patients in the EU5 countries. Physicians (EU5 n=926) reported, online, de-identified data on their next IIIb/IV NSCLC patients seen in consultation (EU5 n=9111 non-clinical trial patients), providing clinical measures and current and past treatment patterns. For an appropriate comparison with ESMO grades, we focused analyses on the same patient types that had been enrolled in the clinical trial leading to the assignment of rankings. These real world data were supplemented by additional research with the Oncology Monitor panel (EU5; n=151 doctors drug-treating 5+ IIIb/IV NSCLC patients) to understand the impact of several value-based scores on treatment decisions. RESULTS: There is a correlation between volumes of prescribing and ESMO scores (drugs with the lowest scores are associated with lower levels of prescribing and vice-versa), with 59% (±6.57% at 95% CI) of EU5 physicians stating that ESMO-MCBS scores have a high impact on their prescribing activity. However, physicians’ stated level of satisfaction shows no significant difference between drugs with low or high scores. For example, pembrolizumab approved for patients with PD-L1>1%, or PD-L1>50% was graded 3 and 5, respectively; corresponding satisfaction levels were 7.74 and 7.76, respectively, on a 1-10 scale.

CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest physicians prioritize prescribing drugs with the highest ESMO scores. However, they show similar levels of satisfaction between drugs given lower or higher scores.