Alectinib is effective, safe and tolerable in an adolescent with stage IVB ALK-rearranged adenocarcinoma of the lung

Abstract

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitors such as crizotinib and alectinib have been shown to have significant activity in ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). There are no data for alectinib’s safety or efficacy in younger patients, though it is superior to crizotinib in adult trials. We present a 14-year old girl diagnosed with stage IV-B ALK-positive adenocarcinoma of the lung after presenting with cough and fever. She was commenced on alectinib at adult dose and has had sustained complete metabolic remission for 9 months. She is the youngest patient with lung adenocarcinoma to be treated with alectinib.

Keywords:

• Lung cancer
• adenocarcinoma
• adolescent
• alectinib

Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge the assistance of Professor Anthony Gill for providing the ALK-1 immunoperoxidase stain and his input in the diagnosis.

Conflicts of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

Dr Samiuela Lee is supported by a Project Grant Number 5 from The Kids Cancer Alliance (KCA), a translational cancer research center of The Cancer Institute of NSW. Dr Christa E. Nath is supported by the Leukaemia Research Support Fund of The Children’s Hospital Westmead. These funding bodies did not have any input in the design, conduct or preparation of this manuscript.