NEW YORK, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Pfizer ( PFE ) is trying

to increase doctor awareness of and testing for a rare lung

cancer mutation to help boost use of its drug Braftovi, which

the pharmaceutical maker anticipates could grow to become the

standard of care.

The company presented three-year follow-up data from a Phase

2 study on Saturday looking at patients with BRAF V600E-mutant

metastatic non-small cell lung cancer who received Braftovi and

another Pfizer ( PFE ) drug, Mektovi, as a first treatment. The study

showed they had a median of over two-and-a-half years of

progression-free survival, a measure of how long treated

patients live before their cancer gets worse.

Chris Boshoff, Pfizer's ( PFE ) Chief Oncology Officer, said the new

data supports the use of the drug as standard of care for that

group and said it expects to get market penetration of up to 60%

in lung cancer patients with the mutation.

He said approximately 2% to 3% of lung cancers have the

mutation in question.

Standard of care for such patients is currently an

immunotherapy paired with chemotherapy, Boshoff said. The

combination of Braftovi and Mektovi has been approved for

patients with non-small cell lung cancer with the mutation since

last year.

"All patients with lung cancer should be tested for BRAF

mutations, and that could be done with a simple blood test," he

said. "It's a relatively easy test to identify these patients

who clearly would benefit significantly from having a targeted

therapy."

He said that fewer than 50% of lung cancer patients in the

U.S. are currently tested for the mutation. That number is even

lower globally.

"This is a space where Pfizer ( PFE ) is particularly well equipped,

not just in the US, but globally, to encourage testing and to

help educate physicians, pathologists, patients, and patient

advocate groups," Boshoff said. He said the test is covered by

insurance in the U.S.

Pfizer ( PFE ) sold close to $400 million of Braftovi and Mektovi

last year, but analysts are not currently forecasting

significant growth for the drugs, according to LSEG data.

One area where Boshoff said Braftovi could expand its market

is in colorectal cancer, where BRAF-mutated cancers make up 10%

of the cancers. Data from the company's late-stage study in

colorectal cancer is expected to be announced by the end of the

year, he said.