Co-clinical trials demonstrate superiority of crizotinib to chemotherapy in ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer and predict strategies to overcome resistance.

PURPOSE: To extend the results of a phase III trial in patients with non-small cell lung cancer with adenocarcinomas harboring EML4-ALK fusion.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We conducted a co-clinical trial in a mouse model comparing the ALK inhibitor crizotinib to the standard-of-care cytotoxic agents docetaxel or pemetrexed.

RESULTS: Concordant with the clinical outcome in humans, crizotinib produced a substantially higher response rate compared with chemotherapy, associated with significantly longer progression-free survival. Overall survival was also prolonged in crizotinib- compared with chemotherapy-treated mice. Pemetrexed produced superior overall survival compared with docetaxel, suggesting that this agent may be the preferred chemotherapy in the ALK population. In addition, in the EML4-ALK-driven mouse lung adenocarcinoma model, HSP90 inhibition can overcome both primary and acquired crizotinib resistance. Furthermore, HSP90 inhibition, as well as the second-generation ALK inhibitor TAE684, demonstrated activity in newly developed lung adenocarcinoma models driven by crizotinib-insensitive EML4-ALK L1196M or F1174L.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that crizotinib is superior to standard chemotherapy in ALK inhibitor-naïve disease and support further clinical investigation of HSP90 inhibitors and second-generation ALK inhibitors in tumors with primary or acquired crizotinib resistance.