AUTHOR=Faugeroux Vincent , Pailler Emma , Auger Nathalie , Taylor Melissa , Farace Françoise 

TITLE=Clinical Utility of Circulating Tumor Cells in ALK-Positive Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=4

YEAR=2014

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2014.00281

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2014.00281

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=<p>The advent of rationally targeted therapies such as small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has considerably transformed the therapeutic management of a subset of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring defined molecular abnormalities. When such genetic molecular alterations are detected the use of specific TKI has demonstrated better results (overall response rate, progression free survival) compared to systemic therapy. However, the detection of such molecular abnormalities is complicated by the difficulty in obtaining sufficient tumor material, in terms of quantity and quality, from a biopsy. Here, we described how circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can have a clinical utility in anaplastic lymphoma kinase (<italic>ALK</italic>) positive NSCLC patients to diagnose <italic>ALK-EML4</italic> gene rearrangement and to guide therapeutic management of these patients. The ability to detect genetic abnormalities such <italic>ALK</italic> rearrangement in CTCs shows that these cells could offer new perspectives both for the diagnosis and the monitoring of <italic>ALK</italic>-positive patients eligible for treatment with ALK inhibitors.</p>