title: ALK: a tyrosine kinase target for cancer therapy.
abstract: The anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene plays an important physiologic role in the development of the brain and can be oncogenically altered in several malignancies, including non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and anaplastic large cell lymphomas (ALCL). Most prevalentALKalterations are chromosomal rearrangements resulting in fusion genes, as seen in ALCL and NSCLC. In other tumors,ALKcopy-number gains and activatingALKmutations have been described. Dramatic and often prolonged responses are seen in patients withALKalterations when treated with ALK inhibitors. Three of these-crizotinib, ceritinib, and alectinib-are now FDA approved for the treatment of metastatic NSCLC positive forALKfusions. However, the emergence of resistance is universal. Newer ALK inhibitors and other targeting strategies are being developed to counteract the newly emergent mechanism(s) of ALK inhibitor resistance. This review outlines the recent developments in our understanding and treatment of tumors withALKalterations.
authors.affiliation: Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Vijaykumar R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Holla
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Yasir Y
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Elamin
authors.affiliation: Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Ann Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Amber M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Beate C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Litzenburger
authors.affiliation: Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Yekaterina B
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Khotskaya
authors.affiliation: Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Nora S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.affiliation: Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Md Abu
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Shufean
authors.affiliation: Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Kenna R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.affiliation: Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.|Department of Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mendelsohn
authors.affiliation: Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.|Department of Systems Biology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Gordon B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.affiliation: Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.|Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.|Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Funda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Meric-Bernstam
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: George R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Simon