How common is ALK mutation?
About 5 percent of people with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have the ALK-positive kind. It’s most commonly seen in people with the adenocarcinoma type of NSCLC. About 72,000 people are diagnosed with ALK-positive lung cancer worldwide each year, according to the advocacy group ALK Positive.
What is ALK gene rearrangement?
What Is ALK Rearrangement? ALK (anaplastic lymphoma kinase) is a gene that tells your body how to make proteins that help cells talk to each other. If you have lung cancer with an ALK rearrangement, part of this gene is broken and attached to another gene. Doctors call changes in genes like this mutations.
Does everyone have the ALK gene?
Everyone has two copies of the ALK gene, which we randomly inherit from each of our parents. Mutations in one copy of the ALK gene can increase the chance for you to develop certain types of cancer and/or non-cancerous tumors in your lifetime.
Is ALK positive curable?
As these cancer cells begin to grow in your lung, they can potentially spread to other parts of your body. Among the many different mutations that can drive cancer to grow, the ALK mutation is one of the more treatable as it often responds dramatically to targeted therapy.
How I treat ALK-positive NSCLC?
Chemotherapy is still the backbone of NSCLC and in ALK-positive patients progressing after ALK TKIs without actionable resistance mutations. Platinum-based chemotherapy is still a valid option for these patients. The role of single-agent immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is still a matter of debate.
What is EGFR and ALK test?
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations and anaplastic large-cell lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements are now routine biomarkers that have been incorporated into the practice of managing non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
How is ALK test done?
Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH)—this method looks at the genetic level for presence of the gene rearrangement; it is currently the gold standard for evaluating ALK fusions. Immunohistochemistry (IHC)—this method detects the altered ALK protein; IHC is an acceptable alternative to FISH.
How do ALK inhibitors work?
They fall under the category of tyrosine kinase inhibitors, which work by inhibiting proteins involved in the abnormal growth of tumour cells. All the current approved ALK inhibitors function by binding to the ATP pocket of the abnormal ALK protein, blocking its access to energy and deactivating it.
What is ALK testing?
ALK is a short name for the anaplastic lymphoma receptor tyrosine kinase gene. This test detects specific rearrangements in the ALK gene in cancer cells and tissue. The presence of these changes makes it more likely that a person with non-small cell lung cancer will respond to a targeted drug therapy.
Where is ALK located?
The human ALK gene is located at chromosome region 2p23. 2–p23. 1. This gene, which contains 26 exons, encodes the full-length ALK protein with 1620 amino acids.
What is metastatic ALK?
About 90% of those diagnosed with ALK-positive cancer are diagnosed when the cancer has already spread to other parts of the body (known as metastatic cancer, or stage 4 cancer) Without any cancer treatment, half of patients with metastatic ALK cancer would die within less than 12 months, but with modern treatments …