Use

The test is useful for identifying patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma who may benefit from treatment with directed tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Rearrangements of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene are found in approximately 3% to 5% of non-small cell lung carcinomas. Clinical studies have shown that lung cancers harboring ALK rearrangements are resistant to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors, but may be highly sensitive to directed tyrosine kinase inhibitors like crizotinib or alectinib, making this test potentially significant for therapeutic decision-making.