The protein anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) helps control cell growth. It’s made by the ALK gene, which can be rearranged by some cancers, including (NSCLC), causing the cancer to grow and spread. One of the two main types of – the other is small cell lung cancer – NSCLC accounts for around 80% to 85% of lung cancers, with ALK-positive tumors occurring in about 3% to 5% of those cases.
ALK-positive NSCLC is typically more aggressive and seen in younger people with a light or non-smoking history. Lorlatinib is a third-generation ALK inhibitor, the newest in a class of drugs that are the standard first-line treatment for patients with ALK-positive NSCLC. A recent international clinical trial led by the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center (Peter Mac) in Melbourne, Australia, assessed the drug’s effect on long-term disease progression in patients with advanced ALK-positive NSCLC.
The results were remarkable. “To our knowledge, these results are unprecedented,” said Peter Mac’s Professor Ben Solomon, the study’s lead and corresponding author, in an interview with . In the Phase III trial, 296 patients with previously untreated, advanced ALK-positive NSCLC were randomly assigned to receive either lorlatinib or crizotinib, a first-generation ALK inhibitor sold as Xalkori.
Lorlatinib is given as a once-a-day tablet, while crizotinib is given twice daily. The study’s primary endpoint was progression-free survival; the key secondary endpoint was overall survival. Another s.
