Abstract

CRIZOTINIB (XALKORI): IN THE TREATMENT OF ALK-FUSION NON SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER (NSCLC)

*Sanket kumar Trivedi, Shiv Kr. Garg, Piush Sharma, Ajay Aseri

ABSTRACT

The number of new cases of ALK-fusion NSCLC is about 9,000 per year in the U.S. and about 45,000 worldwide. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States. NSCLC is any type of epithelial lung cancer other than small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The most common types of NSCLC are squamous cell carcinoma, large cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma, but there are several other types that occur less frequently, and all types can occur in unusual histologic variants. About 7% of NSCLC have EML4-ALK translocations; these may benefit from ALK inhibitors which are in clinical trials.[2] Although NSCLCs are associated with cigarette smoke, adenocarcinomas may be found in patients who have never smoked. On November 20, 2013, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration granted regular approval for crizotinib (Xalkori, Pfizer, Inc.) capsules for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors are anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive as detected by an FDA-approved test. As a class, NSCLCs are relatively insensitive to chemotherapy and radiation therapy compared with SCLC. Patients with advanced metastatic disease may achieve improved survival and palliation of symptoms with chemotherapy, targeted agents, and other supportive measures. Crizotinib was previously granted accelerated approval in August, 2011 based on durable, objective response rates (ORR) of 50% and 61% in two single-arms, open-label studies. Crizotinib is used to treat certain types of non-small cell lung cancer that has spread to nearby tissues or to other parts of the body.

Keywords: non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), types, ALK-NSCLC, diagnosis, CRIZOTINIB, treatment, drug interactions, chemotherapy.