
A large majority of lung cancer patients are diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); this tumour type has a better prognosis than small-cell lung cancer, although five-year survival rates only range from 50% for very early cancer to 2% for stage IV disease.
Rearrangements of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene are detected in 3-7% of patients with NSCLC.
This genetic aberration is more common in younger patients, in never-smokers or light smokers, and in adenocarcinomas.
Patients with ALK rearrangements can be treated with small-molecule inhibitors of the protein product of this gene, ALK.
The first ALK inhibitor, crizotinib, has been shown to be superior to the standard platinum-based chemotherapy in untreated patients and has been licensed as a first-line treatment in the US and some other countries.
However, patients taking crizotinib almost always progress, and further inhibitors are under development.
The second-generation inhibitor ceritinib, which has been developed by Novartis, is more potent than crizotinib in vitro, and clinical trials have already shown it to be effective in delaying progression in pre-treated patients with advanced disease.
Results of a randomised Phase III trial of ceritinib against platinum therapy in previously untreated patients with advanced NSCLC have now been published.
Link para a notícia: eCancer News







