alk genetic mutations that are studied in lung adenocarcinoma
The present study was carried out to detect the prevalence of EGFR mutations and EML4-ALK fusions in EGFR mutation-negative cases of NSCLC (adenocarcinoma) as well as to evaluate the clinical characteristics of EGFR mutations and EML4-ALK fusions in EGFR mutation-negative cases of NSCLC.
In non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), ALK rearrangement occurs in approximately 5% of cases. 2-8 ALK-rearranged tumors depend on ALK for growth and survival and show marked sensitivity to ALK inhibitors such as crizotinib.6-28 In contrast, ceritinib was active in the majority of patients with ALK-rearranged NSCLC who received crizotinib previously. Among these patients, the overall response rate and median progression-free survival observed with ceritinib were similar to those seen after initial crizotinib treatment.