Non-small cell lung cancer, ALK-positive

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22 regimens on this page 27 variants on this page

Note: these are biomarker-specific regimens, please see the main NSCLC page for other regimens.

Advanced or metastatic disease, ALK inhibitor-naive

Alectinib monotherapy

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Regimen #1

Study	Evidence	Comparator	Efficacy
Peters et al. 2017 (ALEX)	Phase III	Crizotinib	Superior PFS

This is the FDA-recommended dose.

Chemotherapy

• Alectinib (Alecensa) 600 mg PO BID

Given until disease progression, lack of benefit, or toxicity

Regimen #2

Study	Evidence	Comparator	Efficacy
Seto et al. 2013 (AF-001JP)	Phase I/II
Hida et al. 2017 (J-ALEX)	Phase III	Crizotinib	Superior PFS

This is the approved dose in Japan.

Chemotherapy

• Alectinib (Alecensa) 300 mg PO BID

Given until disease progression, lack of benefit, or toxicity

References

1. Seto T, Kiura K, Nishio M, Nakagawa K, Maemondo M, Inoue A, Hida T, Yamamoto N, Yoshioka H, Harada M, Ohe Y, Nogami N, Takeuchi K, Shimada T, Tanaka T, Tamura T. CH5424802 (RO5424802) for patients with ALK-rearranged advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (AF-001JP study): a single-arm, open-label, phase 1-2 study. Lancet Oncol. 2013 Jun;14(7):590-8. Epub 2013 Apr 30. link to original article contains verified protocol PubMed
   1. Update: Tamura T, Kiura K, Seto T, Nakagawa K, Maemondo M, Inoue A, Hida T, Yoshioka H, Harada M, Ohe Y, Nogami N, Murakami H, Kuriki H, Shimada T, Tanaka T, Takeuchi K, Nishio M. Three-year follow-up of an alectinib phase I/II study in ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer: AF-001JP. J Clin Oncol. 2017 May 10;35(14):1515-1521. Epub 2017 Mar 15. link to original article link to PMC article PubMed
2. Hida T, Nokihara H, Kondo M, Kim YH, Azuma K, Seto T, Takiguchi Y, Nishio M, Yoshioka H, Imamura F, Hotta K, Watanabe S, Goto K, Satouchi M, Kozuki T, Shukuya T, Nakagawa K, Mitsudomi T, Yamamoto N, Asakawa T, Asabe R, Tanaka T, Tamura T. Alectinib versus crizotinib in patients with ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (J-ALEX): an open-label, randomised phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2017 Jul 1;390(10089):29-39. Epub 2017 May 10. link to original articlecontains protocolPubMed
3. Peters S, Camidge DR, Shaw AT, Gadgeel S, Ahn JS, Kim DW, Ou SI, Pérol M, Dziadziuszko R, Rosell R, Zeaiter A, Mitry E, Golding S, Balas B, Noe J, Morcos PN, Mok T; ALEX Trial Investigators. Alectinib versus crizotinib in untreated ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2017 Aug 31;377(9):829-838. Epub 2017 Jun 6. link to original article contains verified protocol PubMed

Ceritinib monotherapy

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Regimen

Study	Evidence	Comparator	Efficacy
Soria et al. 2017 (ASCEND-4)	Phase III	Carboplatin & Pemetrexed Cisplatin & Pemetrexed	Superior PFS

Chemotherapy

• Ceritinib (Zykadia) 750 mg PO once per day on an empty stomach

21-day cycles, given until progression of disease

References

1. Phase I: Shaw 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. link to original article contains verified protocol link to PMC article PubMed
2. Soria JC, Tan DS, Chiari R, Wu YL, Paz-Ares L, Wolf J, Geater SL, Orlov S, Cortinovis D, Yu CJ, Hochmair M, Cortot AB, Tsai CM, Moro-Sibilot D, Campelo RG, McCulloch T, Sen P, Dugan M, Pantano S, Branle F, Massacesi C, de Castro G Jr. First-line ceritinib versus platinum-based chemotherapy in advanced ALK-rearranged non-small-cell lung cancer (ASCEND-4): a randomised, open-label, phase 3 study. Lancet. 2017 Mar 4;389(10072):917-929. Epub 2017 Jan 24. link to original article contains protocol PubMed

Crizotinib monotherapy

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Regimen

Study	Evidence	Comparator	Efficacy
Kwak et al. 2010	Phase I/II
Shaw et al. 2013	Phase III	Pemetrexed	Superior PFS
		Docetaxel	Superior PFS
Solomon et al. 2014 (PROFILE 1014)	Phase III	Carboplatin & Pemetrexed Cisplatin & Pemetrexed	Superior PFS
Hida et al. 2017 (J-ALEX)	Phase III	Alectinib	Inferior PFS

Chemotherapy

• Crizotinib (Xalkori) 250 mg PO BID

28-day cycles, given until progression of disease or unacceptable toxicity

Shaw et al. 2013 used 21-day cycles, and crizotinib was similarly given 250 mg PO BID on all days.

References

1. Kwak EL, Bang YJ, Camidge DR, Shaw AT, Solomon B, Maki RG, Ou SH, Dezube BJ, Jänne PA, Costa DB, Varella-Garcia M, Kim WH, Lynch TJ, Fidias P, Stubbs H, Engelman JA, Sequist LV, Tan W, Gandhi L, Mino-Kenudson M, Wei GC, Shreeve SM, Ratain MJ, Settleman J, Christensen JG, Haber DA, Wilner K, Salgia R, Shapiro GI, Clark JW, Iafrate AJ. Anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibition in non-small-cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2010 Oct 28;363(18):1693-703. link to original article contains verified protocol link to PMC article PubMed
   1. Update: Camidge DR, Bang YJ, Kwak EL, Iafrate AJ, Varella-Garcia M, Fox SB, Riely GJ, Solomon B, Ou SH, Kim DW, Salgia R, Fidias P, Engelman JA, Gandhi L, Jänne PA, Costa DB, Shapiro GI, Lorusso P, Ruffner K, Stephenson P, Tang Y, Wilner K, Clark JW, Shaw AT. Activity and safety of crizotinib in patients with ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer: updated results from a phase 1 study. Lancet Oncol. 2012 Oct;13(10):1011-9. Epub 2012 Sep 4. link to original article contains verified protocol link to PMC article PubMed
2. Retrospective: Shaw AT, Yeap BY, Solomon BJ, Riely GJ, Gainor J, Engelman JA, Shapiro GI, Costa DB, Ou SH, Butaney M, Salgia R, Maki RG, Varella-Garcia M, Doebele RC, Bang YJ, Kulig K, Selaru P, Tang Y, Wilner KD, Kwak EL, Clark JW, Iafrate AJ, Camidge DR. Effect of crizotinib on overall survival in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer harbouring ALK gene rearrangement: a retrospective analysis. Lancet Oncol. 2011 Oct;12(11):1004-12. Epub 2011 Sep 18. link to original article link to PMC article PubMed
3. Shaw AT, Kim DW, Nakagawa K, Seto T, Crinó L, Ahn MJ, De Pas T, Besse B, Solomon BJ, Blackhall F, Wu YL, Thomas M, O'Byrne KJ, Moro-Sibilot D, Camidge DR, Mok T, Hirsh V, Riely GJ, Iyer S, Tassell V, Polli A, Wilner KD, Jänne PA. Crizotinib versus chemotherapy in advanced ALK-positive lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2013 Jun 20;368(25):2385-94. Epub 2013 Jun 1. link to original article link to supplementary appendix contains verified protocol PubMed
4. Solomon BJ, Mok T, Kim DW, Wu YL, Nakagawa K, Mekhail T, Felip E, Cappuzzo F, Paolini J, Usari T, Iyer S, Reisman A, Wilner KD, Tursi J, Blackhall F; PROFILE 1014 Investigators. First-line crizotinib versus chemotherapy in ALK-positive lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2014 Dec 4;371(23):2167-77. Erratum in: N Engl J Med. 2015 Oct 15;373(16):1582. link to original article contains verified protocol PubMed
   1. Supgroup analysis: Solomon BJ, Cappuzzo F, Felip E, Blackhall FH, Costa DB, Kim DW, Nakagawa K, Wu YL, Mekhail T, Paolini J, Tursi J, Usari T, Wilner KD, Selaru P, Mok TS. Intracranial efficacy of crizotinib versus chemotherapy in patients with advanced ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer: results from PROFILE 1014. J Clin Oncol. 2016 Aug 20;34(24):2858-65. Epub 2016 Mar 28. link to original article PubMed
5. Hida T, Nokihara H, Kondo M, Kim YH, Azuma K, Seto T, Takiguchi Y, Nishio M, Yoshioka H, Imamura F, Hotta K, Watanabe S, Goto K, Satouchi M, Kozuki T, Shukuya T, Nakagawa K, Mitsudomi T, Yamamoto N, Asakawa T, Asabe R, Tanaka T, Tamura T. Alectinib versus crizotinib in patients with ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (J-ALEX): an open-label, randomised phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2017 Jul 1;390(10089):29-39. Epub 2017 May 10. link to original articlecontains protocolPubMed

Advanced or metastatic disease, ALK inhibitor-exposed

Alectinib monotherapy

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Regimen

Study	Evidence
Gandhi et al. 2015 (NP28761)	Phase II
Ou et al. 2015 (NP28673)	Phase II

This is the FDA-approved dose. Patients in NP28673 and NP28761 had progression of disease on Crizotinib (Xalkori).

Chemotherapy

• Alectinib (Alecensa) 600 mg PO BID, to be taken within 30 minutes of eating

Given until progressive disease, unacceptable toxicity, or withdrawal of consent

References

1. Abstract: Leena Gandhi, Alice Shaw, Shirish M. Gadgeel, Gregory Riely, Jeremy Cetnar, Howard Jack West, D. Ross Camidge, Mark A. Socinski, Alberto Chiappori, Tarek Mekhail, Bo H. Chao, Hossein Borghaei, Kathryn A. Gold, Ali Hassan Zeaiter, Walter Bordogna, Bogdana Balas, Oscar Puig, Volkmar Henschel, Sai-Hong Ignatius Ou, NP28761 Study Investigators. A phase II, open-label, multicenter study of the ALK inhibitor alectinib in an ALK+ non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) U.S./Canadian population who had progressed on crizotinib (NP28761). 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting abstract 8019. link to abstract
2. Ou SI, Ahn JS, De Petris L, Govindan R, Yang JC, Hughes B, Lena H, Moro-Sibilot D, Bearz A, Ramirez SV, Mekhail T, Spira A, Bordogna W, Balas B, Morcos PN, Monnet A, Zeaiter A, Kim DW. Alectinib in crizotinib-refractory ALK-rearranged non-small-cell lung cancer: A phase II global study. J Clin Oncol. 2015 Nov 23. link to original article contains verified protocol PubMed

Brigatinib monotherapy

Brigatinib (Alunbrig) for advanced or metastatic ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer

Ceritinib monotherapy

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Regimen

Study	Evidence	Comparator	Efficacy
Shaw et al. 2017 (ASCEND-5)	Phase III	Docetaxel Pemetrexed	Superior PFS

Chemotherapy

• Ceritinib (Zykadia) 750 mg PO once per day on an empty stomach

21-day cycles, given until progression of disease

References

1. Phase I: Shaw 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. link to original article contains verified protocol link to PMC article PubMed
2. Shaw AT, Kim TM, Crinò L, Gridelli C, Kiura K, Liu G, Novello S, Bearz A, Gautschi O, Mok T, Nishio M, Scagliotti G, Spigel DR, Deudon S, Zheng C, Pantano S, Urban P, Massacesi C, Viraswami-Appanna K, Felip E. Ceritinib versus chemotherapy in patients with ALK-rearranged non-small-cell lung cancer previously given chemotherapy and crizotinib (ASCEND-5): a randomised, controlled, open-label, phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2017 Jul;18(7):874-886. Epub 2017 Jun 9. link to original articlecontains protocolPubMed