Primary Resistance Mechanisms of ALK TKIs

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene rearrangement is a known oncogenic driver in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been clearly shown to produce excellent therapeutic effects and prolong survival in patients with this gene mutation. According to current treatment guidelines, ALK inhibitors are the first-line treatment of choice for ALK-positive advanced NSCLC patients. However, although ALK TKIs are very effective, there is still a small group of patients who do not achieve good treatment outcomes, developing resistance and tumor progression within 3 to 6 months of initial ALK TKI use. This is called primary resistance. Intrinsic resistance to ALK inhibition occurs when the best clinical response after first-generation and second/third-generation TKI treatment is disease progression. Approximately 5-7% of cases after crizotinib treatment, 9% after ceritinib treatment, and 25% after lorlatinib treatment show no response to treatment, and no specific ALK mutation has been found to explain the occurrence of primary resistance. Currently, many different resistance mechanisms are known, some of which are still ALK-related, while others are ALK-independent alternative survival pathways. However, most research focuses on acquired resistance, with very few studies on primary resistance, only a few case reports. Therefore, this study aims to explore the primary ALK TKI resistance mechanisms. The investigators plan to explore the incidence and mechanisms of primary ALK TKI resistance in ALK-positive advanced NSCLC patients who develop primary resistance or rapid progression (within 3-6 months) during ALK inhibitor treatment by re-obtaining tumor samples for genetic analysis.

Sex

All

Minimum age

18 Years

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age ≥ 18 years old.
2. Histologically or cytologically diagnosed NSCLC
3. ALK gene fusion detected at initial diagnosis of NSCLC
4. Patients exhibiting primary resistance to ALK-TKI therapy, defined as the absence of initial response or progression within 3 to 6 months of treatment initiation, were included.
5. Able and willing to provide written informed consent prior to performing any study related procedures and to comply with the study protocol.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Unable to provide written inform consent
2. The patients had received other systemic treatments except ALK TKI.
3. Unable to undergo tumor biopsy or venipuncture

• BACKGROUNDYoda S, Lin JJ, Lawrence MS, Burke BJ, Friboulet L, Langenbucher A, Dardaei L, Prutisto-Chang K, Dagogo-Jack I, Timofeevski S, Hubbeling H, Gainor JF, Ferris LA, Riley AK, Kattermann KE, Timonina D, Heist RS, Iafrate AJ, Benes CH, Lennerz JK, Mino-Kenudson M, Engelman JA, Johnson TW, Hata AN, Shaw AT. Sequential ALK Inhibitors Can Select for Lorlatinib-Resistant Compound ALK Mutations in ALK-Positive Lung Cancer. Cancer Discov. 2018 Jun;8(6):714-729. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-17-1256. Epub 2018 Apr 12. PMID 29650534
• BACKGROUNDShaw AT, Kim DW, Mehra R, Tan DS, Felip E, Chow LQ, Camidge DR, Vansteenkiste J, Sharma S, De Pas T, Riely GJ, Solomon BJ, Wolf J, Thomas M, Schuler M, Liu G, Santoro A, Lau YY, Goldwasser M, Boral AL, Engelman JA. Ceritinib in ALK-rearranged non-small-cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2014 Mar 27;370(13):1189-97. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1311107. PMID 24670165
• BACKGROUNDHinshaw DC, Shevde LA. The Tumor Microenvironment Innately Modulates Cancer Progression. Cancer Res. 2019 Sep 15;79(18):4557-4566. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-18-3962. Epub 2019 Jul 26. PMID 31350295
• BACKGROUNDJamal-Hanjani M, Wilson GA, McGranahan N, Birkbak NJ, Watkins TBK, Veeriah S, Shafi S, Johnson DH, Mitter R, Rosenthal R, Salm M, Horswell S, Escudero M, Matthews N, Rowan A, Chambers T, Moore DA, Turajlic S, Xu H, Lee SM, Forster MD, Ahmad T, Hiley CT, Abbosh C, Falzon M, Borg E, Marafioti T, Lawrence D, Hayward M, Kolvekar S, Panagiotopoulos N, Janes SM, Thakrar R, Ahmed A, Blackhall F, Summers Y, Shah R, Joseph L, Quinn AM, Crosbie PA, Naidu B, Middleton G, Langman G, Trotter S, Nicolson M, Remmen H, Kerr K, Chetty M, Gomersall L, Fennell DA, Nakas A, Rathinam S, Anand G, Khan S, Russell P, Ezhil V, Ismail B, Irvin-Sellers M, Prakash V, Lester JF, Kornaszewska M, Attanoos R, Adams H, Davies H, Dentro S, Taniere P, O'Sullivan B, Lowe HL, Hartley JA, Iles N, Bell H, Ngai Y, Shaw JA, Herrero J, Szallasi Z, Schwarz RF, Stewart A, Quezada SA, Le Quesne J, Van Loo P, Dive C, Hackshaw A, Swanton C; TRACERx Consortium. Tracking the Evolution of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2017 Jun 1;376(22):2109-2121. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1616288. Epub 2017 Apr 26. PMID 28445112