Treatment of ALK-Rearranged Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Recent Progress and Future Directions

Abstract

Rearrangements of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene originally discovered nearly 20 years ago in the context of anaplastic large cell lymphoma were identified as oncogenic drivers in a subset of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) in 2007. These ALK gene rearrangements are present in 3-5 % of NSCLC patients, typically younger, never or light smokers with adenocarcinomas. Crizotinib is a first-in-class ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor with significant activity in ALK-positive NSCLC that received accelerated US Food and Drug Administration approval for treatment of ALK-positive NSCLC in 2011, just 4 years after identification of ALK rearrangements in this setting. Subsequently, two phase..