Early Amivantamab Challenges and the COPERNICUS Approach

Amanda Edmond, PA-C, of Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center at Banner Gateway Medical Center, opens this Oncology Nursing News Translating Trials discussion by revisiting what intravenous amivantamab plus lazertinib looked like in practice for patients with EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. Infusion-related reactions occurred in roughly two-thirds of patients and were, in her words, the most memorable part of the early experience, stressful for patients and for the nursing staff managing them. Significant rash followed as the second most common problem. The hardest part, she says, was preparing patients for reactions that often occurred anyway, and then responding reactively to rash and paronychia. Edmond describes COPERNICUS as a pragmatic trial combining subcutaneous dosing, venous thromboembolism prophylaxis, and skin care prophylaxis to test whether those strategies keep patients on treatment. Early data show infusion-related reactions falling from about 63% in MARIPOSA to about 0.9%, with prophylactic skin care reducing significant dermatitis.