Impact of delaying initiation of anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitor treatment on survival in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer

Approximately 2% to 8% of patients with metastatic nonsquamous non –small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harbor a rearrangement in the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene in their tumors that may render them susceptible to targeted treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors [1–5]. Patients with ALK-rearrangements have been described as being younger, having a histor y of never or light smoking, and being likely to have adenocarcinoma with signet ring or acinar histology, based on previous studies [3,4,6].
Source: Lung Cancer - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Source Type: research