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Detection of Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) Gene Rearrangement in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Related Issues in ALK Inhibitor Therapy

A Literature Review

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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.

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Table I.

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Acknowledgments

No sources of funding were used to conduct this review or prepare this manuscript. Kimary Kulig is a former employee and former stockholder of Pfizer, Inc. Keith Kerr has received consultancy fees from Pfizer, Inc. The authors have no other conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this review.

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Correspondence to Eunhee S. Yi.

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Yi, E.S., Chung, JH., Kulig, K. et al. Detection of Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) Gene Rearrangement in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Related Issues in ALK Inhibitor Therapy. Mol Diagn Ther 16, 143–150 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03262202

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03262202

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