{Reference Type}: Comparative Study {Title}: Concomitant resistance mechanisms to multiple tyrosine kinase inhibitors in ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer. {Author}: Yu Y;Ou Q;Wu X;Bao H;Ding Y;Shao YW;Lu S; {Journal}: Lung Cancer {Volume}: 127 {Issue}: 0 {Year}: 01 2019 {Factor}: 6.081 {DOI}: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2018.11.024 {Abstract}: ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), including crizotinib and several next generation TKIs, have demonstrated beneficial clinical outcomes in ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, resistance mechanisms following multiple TKI treatments in ALK-positive NSCLC are not fully elucidated.
Mutation profiles of 422 cancer-relevant genes in 52 patients with post-TKI biopsy samples were analyzed using next-generation sequencing (NGS), and compared between patients receiving crizotinib alone (n = 35) and multi-TKIs (n = 17).
EML4-ALK variant 3 is the most frequent ALK variants in this cohort, followed by EML4-ALK variant 1. Half of the patients harbored ALK activating mutations upon progression on crizotinib treatment. After multi-TKIs treatment, 59% of the cases developed resistant ALK mutations, and concomitant ALK activating mutations were more commonly observed in this cohort (P = 0.031). Specifically, ALK G1269 A, L1196 M, and C1156Y substitutions were more common in crizotinib-alone samples, while ALK G1202R was significantly more enriched post-multi-TKIs (P = 0.009). Activated bypass signaling tended to be more prevalent in patients post-multi-TKIs. Furthermore, dual activation of ALK and bypass signaling was more frequently found in the multi-TKIs group (5/17, 29%) in contrast to crizotinib-alone (2/35, 6%) (P = 0.031). Additionally, concurrent TP53 mutation demonstrated significantly shorter progression-free survival (PFS) compared with TP53 wildtype in crizotinib-alone group (median PFS: 8 vs 13 months, Hazard Ratio = 1.494, P = 0.019).
Concurrent ALK activating mutations and/or upregulated bypass signaling are more enriched in patients undergoing multiple ALK TKI treatments compared to crizotinib alone. Concomitant TP53 mutation correlated to unfavorable survival when receiving a single TKI crizotinib.