Adverse Effect Management in the COCOON Trial for EGFR-Mutated NSCLC: Jill Feldman

By implementing a proactive supportive care strategy in the COCOON trial for patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)–mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), researchers reduced severe skin-related side effects by 50% and significantly improved patients' quality of life, says Jill Feldman, patient, cofounder and president, EGFR Resisters.

The findings from the COCOON trial (NCT06120140) were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting.

This transcript was lightly edited; captions were auto-generated.

Transcript

How does the COCOON trial change the way we should think about supportive care in oncology?

I would just start by saying, COCOON was designed to move, in my mind, as an advocate I'm saying this, from a reactive model of waiting until the most likely side effects are going to happen, to mitigating them up front. I mean, it just seemed logical to me. You're prescribed this amazing drug that'll keep you cancer free for a long time, but there's a high risk of developing these side effects. Then why aren't we trying to mitigate that risk up front, instead of waiting till someone is suffering and to come back and ask for help? It's really moving from that reactive model to a more proactive strategy that will prevent these dermatologic toxicities.

The study incorporated a digital health tool to promote adherence. Can you share more about patient engagement with this tool and how it may have contributed to the outcomes?

Patients and families learn differently. We all learn differently. If you throw a 5-page document in front of my face full of words, I cannot do it. It is so overwhelming to me; it would take me a long time. But if you showed me an interactive digital tool that could educate me in a couple minutes, that is completely different. That's how I learn. And so really addressing the complex information in a complicated setting, it is critical to find different mediums to educate patients on the treatment.

Actually, that's what it's needed for, on this treatment and in a first-line setting, it’s the potential impact you may may have [with] this treatment in this PRO [patient-reported outcome] setting, being able to share the impact that you are experiencing. But I think, we're actually in the process of trying to get some together to help patients in first-line treatment for EGFR, because I think it's very difficult for oncologists to be able to explain treatment options in 20 minutes to patients. It's difficult. I really think we're going to see a lot more educational aids that are digital tools.