Therapeutic effects of an ALK inhibitor, brigatinib, on lung large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma with EML4-ALK fusion

Abstract

A 64-year-old light-smoking woman was clinically diagnosed with lung large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) with a metastatic brain tumor. An Oncomine Dx Targeted Test using metastatic brain tissue revealed that the patient's lung cancer cells had an EML4-ALK rearrangement. Patients with LCNEC and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene rearrangements are rare, and there is currently no standard treatment. Based on the genomic analysis, we treated the patient with brigatinib, an ALK inhibitor. We describe here a patient with LCNEC who responded significantly to brigatinib without serious adverse events.