Detection of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene rearrangement in non-small cell lung cancer and related issues in ALK inhibitor therapy: A literature review

Eunhee S. Yi, Jin Haeng Chung, Kimary Kulig, Keith M. Kerr

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase, and ALK gene rearrangement (ALK) is implicated in the oncogenesis of non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLCs), especially adenocarcinomas. The ALK inhibitor crizotinib was approved in August 2011 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating late-stage NSCLCs that are ALK, with a companion fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) test using the Vysis ALK Break Apart FISH Probe Kit. This review covers pertinent issues in ALK testing, including approaches to select target patients for the test, pros and cons of different detection methods, and mechanisms as well as monitoring of acquired crizotinib resistance in ALK NSCLCs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)143-150
Number of pages8
JournalMolecular Diagnosis and Therapy
Volume16
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012

Keywords

  • Adenocarcinoma
  • Anaplastic-lymphoma- kinase-targets
  • Anaplastic-lymphoma-kinase-inhibitors
  • Crizotinib
  • Drug-resistance
  • Non-small-cell-lung-cancer

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Medicine
  • Genetics
  • Pharmacology

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