Successful treatment with crizotinib in mechanically ventilated patients with ALK positive non-small-cell lung cancer

Hee Kyung Ahn, Kyeongman Jeon, Hongseok Yoo, Boram Han, Su Jin Lee, Hyeyon Park, Min Ji Lee, Sang Yun Ha, Joung Ho Han, Jong Mu Sun, Jin Seok Ahn, Myung Ju Ahn, Keunchil Park

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

45 Scopus citations

Abstract

Lung cancer is the most common solid tumor in critically ill cancer patients admitted to intensive care units and is associated with a poor prognosis. Crizotinib is an anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor, which is active for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients harboring ALK rearrangements. We report three cases of NSCLC patients who required mechanical ventilation for respiratory failure and were successfully weaned from mechanical ventilation after treatment with ALK inhibitors. These responses were accompanied by minimal toxicities and an overt improvement in performance status. These results suggest that ALK inhibitors may be safe and effective in critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation for respiratory failure resulting from EML4-ALK translocated NSCLC progression.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)250-253
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Thoracic Oncology
Volume8
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2013

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Crizotinib was supported by Pfizer. The authors thank Keith Wilner, PhD, Sang-Yoon Lee, MD, and the clinical research associates in Pfizer Korea.

Keywords

  • Crizotinib
  • Mechanical ventilation
  • Non-small-cell lung carcinoma
  • Weaning

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