Sequencing ALK inhibitors: alectinib in crizotinib-resistant patients, a phase 2 trial by Shaw et al.

Over the last few years, the introduction of several drugs acting against therapeutic targets has dramatically improved the prognosis of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), primarily for patients harboring epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements. ALK rearrangements represent 3–7% of NSCLC, predominantly with adenocarcinoma histology and are mainly found in a light or non-smoker young population (1). Located on chromosome 2, they result in increased tyrosine kinase activity of the ALK receptor, promoting proliferation and tumor survival.