Background: Rearrangements in the gene encoding anaplastic lymphocyte kinase (ALK) are found in 3%–5% of patients. Treatment options have significantly expanded with ALK inhibitor drug approvals including crizotinib in 2011, ceritinib in 2014, alectinib in 2015, brigatinib in 2017 and lorlatinib in 2018. We sought to better understand the real-world treatment utilization and cost of ALK inhibitors in lung cancer (LCA) over the most recent period for which adjudicated claims are available, October 2017-September 2018... Conclusions: Our analyses demonstrate alectinib is the preferred first-line ALK inhibitor in the last twelve months of available data. Furthermore, the increased ER and in-patient costs may substantiate the findings of the ALEX trial, notably higher liver toxicity and more nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea for crizotinib. There is not yet sufficient data on the newer ALK inhibitors, brigatinib and lorlatinib in the real-world. READ ARTICLE
Journal of Clinical Oncology DOI:10.1200/JCO.2020.38.15_suppl.e14046
Authors: Denise Meade, Marie Ng, S Alford
