ALK-positive, never-smoker, patients with lung adenocarcinoma at double risk to experience disease progression or recurrence within 5 years of initial diagnosis

Dr Ping Yang from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA, and colleagues, reported the findings today at the European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology (EMCTO) in Lugano.

Approximately 8% – 12% of patients with lung adenocarcinoma who have never smoked cigarettes carry tumors that express a protein product called anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), Dr Yang said. “This subset of patients are at more than double the risk of experiencing disease progression or recurrence within 5 years of initial diagnosis compared to never-smokers whose lung adenocarcinoma tumors are ALK-negative.”