NTRK and ALK rearrangements in malignant pleural mesothelioma, pulmonary neuroendocrine tumours and non-small cell lung cancer

Objectives: Gene rearrangements involving NTRK1, NTRK2, NTRK3, ROS1 and ALK have been identified in many types of cancer, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Data in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), lung neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) are lacking. Given the activity of NTRK, ROS-1 and ALK inhibitors in tumors harboring gene fusions, we sought to explore such rearrangements in these less common tumors in addition to NSCLC. Conclusions: To our knowledge, we report for the first time NTRK and ALK rearrangements in a small subset of MPM. An ALK rearrangement was also detected in lung intermediate-grade NET (or atypical carcinoid). Our data suggest that IHC could be a useful screening test in such patients to ensure that all therapeutic strategies including targeted therapy are utilized. READ ARTICLE

Lung Cancer DOI:10.1016/j.lungcan.2020.05.019

Authors: Jose Luis Leal, Geoffrey Peters, Marcin Szaumkessel, Trishe Leong, Khashayar Asadi, Gareth Rivalland, Hongdo Do, Clare Senko, Paul L.Mitchell, Chai Zi Quing, Alexander Dobrovic, Bibhusal Thapa, Thomas John