Alectinib Exposure Lower With Low-Fat Yogurt Intake

WEDNESDAY, June 14, 2023 (HealthDay News) — For patients with advanced anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive non-small cell lung cancer, alectinib exposure is lower when taken with low-fat yogurt, according to a study published in the June issue of the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

Daan A.C. Lanser, from Erasmus MC Cancer Institute in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues conducted a randomized three-period crossover clinical study comparing alectinib exposure among patients with different diets. The first alectinib dose was taken with a continental breakfast, 250-g low-fat yogurt, or a self-chosen lunch every seven days, and the second dose was taken with a self-chosen dinner. On day 8, sampling for alectinib exposure (C_trough) was performed, just prior to alectinib intake.

The researchers found that the mean C_trough was 14 and 20 percent lower when taken with low-fat yogurt compared with continental breakfast and self-chosen lunch, respectively, in 20 evaluable patients. Exposure did not change for administration with a self-chosen lunch compared with a continental breakfast.

“This is important information for patients, since we know that higher alectinib concentrations in blood could result in more efficacy of the drug, a longer treatment duration and therefore, hopefully, a better survival,” Lanser said in a statement. “We believe that taking it with a substantial meal containing enough fat is far more important for the absorption and efficacy of the treatment than to wait 12 hours between doses.”

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.