Special issue The advance of solid tumor research in China: Real-world clinical outcomes of alectinib for advanced nonsmall-cell lung cancer patients with ALK fusion in China

Global phase 3 trials have demonstrated the priority of several next-generation anaplastic lymphoma kinase-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (ALK-TKIs). However, clinical studies are conducted with specific populations that differ from the real world. The study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of alectinib in real-world settings. Patients with advanced nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and EML4-ALK fusion were enrolled from two medical centers between June 2018 and June 2020. The primary endpoints were objective response rate (ORR) and progression-free survival (PFS) to alectinib. The secondary endpoint was response of brain metastases. The risk factors for disease progression were also investigated. In total, 127 patients with advanced NSCLC were enrolled into this study. Of them, 54.3% received first-line alectinib. The 1- and 2-year PFS rates were 77.4% and 68.3%, respectively. ORR and disease control rate (DCR) were 53.5% and 91.3%, respectively. Among patients with brain metastases, intracranial ORR and DCR were 63.6% and 88.6%, respectively. In addition, we found that crizotinib pretreatment, liver metastasis and TP53 co-mutation were individually associated with shorter PFS in alectinib treatment. In conclusion, this study confirms the salient clinical outcomes of alectinib for ALK-fusion-driven NSCLC patients with or without brain metastases, adding real-world evidence to the priority of alectinib in clinical practice.

Automated summary

This study evaluates the clinical outcomes of alectinib in the treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients with EML4-ALK fusion in real-world settings. The results show that alectinib has significant objective response rate and progression-free survival, and it also shows good efficacy in treating brain metastases. Certain factors such as pre-treatment and specific gene mutations are associated with the effectiveness of alectinib treatment.