The role of diagnostics and treatment — lung cancer with ALK rearrangement

Abstract

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths both in Poland and worldwide. Recently, the incidence of lung adenocarcinoma has been increasing and currently it accounts for about 45% of all diagnosed lung cancers. Patients diagnosed with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), especially with adenocarcinoma, cancer containing adenocarcinoma component, large cell carcinoma, as well as patients with not otherwise specified (NOS) cancer may benefit from targeted therapy if molecular tests confirm the presence of activating EGFR gene mutations, ALK, ROS1 or NTRK rearrangement, or BRAF gene mutations. The ALK gene rearrangement is a positive predictive marker of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) effectiveness, which are more effective than standard chemotherapy in this population, are associated with improving the quality of life and also indicate a different, more tolerable toxicity profile. This study presents the diagnostic sequence and registered treatment options for patients with ALK-positive NSCLC.