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In patients with previously untreated advanced ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), crizotinib yields better results compared with standard chemotherapy, new research suggests. Benjamin Solomon (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia) and colleagues noted that in 3–5% of cases of NSCLCs, the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene shows rearrangements, yielding a specific NSCLC subgroup that includes young patients, non-smokers or light smokers, and patients with adenocarcinoma. According to the researchers, although crizotinib has yielded impressive results in advanced ALK-positive NSCLC patients with a previous history of platinum-based chemotherapy, its effectiveness in previously untreated patients with advanced ALK-positive NSCLC remained unknown. Solomon and colleagues did a multicentre, randomised, phase 3 trial in 343 patients with previously untreated advanced ALK-positive
NSCLC to compare effectiveness, safety, and patient-reported outcomes of crizotinib treatment with pemetrexedplus-platinum chemotherapy. Patients were randomly assigned to receive oral crizotinib (n=172) or standard intravenous chemotherapy (n=171). For patients who received standard chemotherapy, the researchers allowed crossover to crizotinib treatment after disease progression. According to the researchers, the median progression-free survival was 10·9 months in the crizotinib group compared with 7·0 months in the chemotherapy group (hazard ratio for progression or death with crizotinib 0·45; 95% CI 0·35–0·60; p
In patients with previously untreated advanced ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), crizotinib yields better results compared with standard chemotherapy, new research suggests. Benjamin Solomon (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia) and colleagues noted that in 3–5% of cases of NSCLCs, the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene shows rearrangements, yielding a specific NSCLC subgroup that includes young patients, non-smokers or light smokers, and patients with adenocarcinoma. According to the researchers, although crizotinib has yielded impressive results in advanced ALK-positive NSCLC patients with a previous history of platinum-based chemotherapy, its effectiveness in previously untreated patients with advanced ALK-positive NSCLC remained unknown. Solomon and colleagues did a multicentre, randomised, phase 3 trial in 343 patients with previously untreated advanced ALK-positive
NSCLC to compare effectiveness, safety, and patient-reported outcomes of crizotinib treatment with pemetrexedplus-platinum chemotherapy. Patients were randomly assigned to receive oral crizotinib (n=172) or standard intravenous chemotherapy (n=171). For patients who received standard chemotherapy, the researchers allowed crossover to crizotinib treatment after disease progression. According to the researchers, the median progression-free survival was 10·9 months in the crizotinib group compared with 7·0 months in the chemotherapy group (hazard ratio for progression or death with crizotinib 0·45; 95% CI 0·35–0·60; p
