Crizotinib Efficacy In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients With Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase Translocation

This is an exploratory non-randomized study in patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC. Patients who are eligible to apply for Extended Access Program of crizotinib must have ALK translocation detected by RT-PCR, IHC or FISH analyses methods. Patients who failed and progressed through at least one line of platinum containing chemotherapy and who are older than 70 years old with failure of chemotherapy will be eligible for this study. We will screen EML4-ALK fusion gene by RT-PCR (HotSart Taq Master Mix Kits, Qiaqen) from patients' malignant pleural effusions and the detail was described in previous study\[1\]. We will also use IHC analyses (5A4 monoclonal antibody, Novocastra) to screen ALK protein expression in patients' FFPE tumor sections. We will further do FISH analysis by using commercial Vysis LSI ALK Dual Color, Break Apart Rearrangement Probe (2p23) (Abott Molecular Inc., Des Plaines, IL) to detect ALK rearrangement in positive screening tumors. Samples are deemed to be FISH-positive if more than 15% of 50 scored tumor cells had split ALK 5' and 3' probe signals or had isolated 3' signals\[5\]. Patients who have ALK rearrangement determined in any of 3 molecular analyses methods and apply for crizotinib will receive 250mg of crizotinib twice daily until disease progression, unacceptable toxicities or the withdrawal of consent is noted. Patients will be monitored carefully for the development of adverse experiences. Adverse experiences will be evaluated according to criteria outlined in the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 4.0. Patients will also be monitored for clinical and/or radiographic evidence of disease progression according to RECIST 1.1. The primary endpoint of the study is overall response rate in patients with positive ALK determined from different molecular analysis methods. The secondary endpoint included overall response in specific subsets of patients, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) at 1 year. PFS is defined as the time from day 1 of crizotinib to disease progression or patient's death. OS was defined as the time from day 1 of crizotinib treatment to patient's death. During the treatment, patients will have safety measurements performed at specified time points. Disease response will be assessed during the study by radiographic (e.g., CT or MRI), and clinical (e.g., physical examination) evaluations, if applicable. Overall tumor response will be assessed at the designated time points (every 12 weeks, using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST, Version 1.1). The crizotinib treatment could be continued after RECIST-defined disease progression if clinical benefit is still noted by primary physician.