Lorlatinib After Failure of First-line TKI in Patients With Advanced ROS1-positive NSCLC (ALBATROS)
ROS1 rearrangements are present in 1-2% of NSCLC cases and define a distinct molecular subgroup. Like ALK (anaplastic lymphoma kinase) rearrangements in NSCLC, ROS1 fusions confer sensitivity to the inhibitor crizotinib. Crizotinib, which is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), has been shown to be effective in tumors in several retrospective studies. Recently the FDA approved entrectinib for the treatment of patients with ROS1-positive metastatic NSCLC. This indication is based on the results of pooled data from several trials. Together, these studies demonstrate the efficacy for entrectinib across a variety of solid tumor types including NSCLC with ROS1 fusion. However, despite the efficacy of crizotinib or entrectinib in ROS1-positive NSCLC, patients will develop resistance to these tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Lorlatinib is a new and potent ROS1 / ALK inhibitor optimized to penetrate the blood-brain barrier. A recent study has investigated the activity of lorlatinib against the crizotinib-resistant ROS1G2032R mutation. In this situation, lorlatinib effectively inhibited the catalytic activity of recombinant ROS1G2032R resulting in an antiproliferative response. Because of its potency as an ROS1 inhibitor and its ability to suppress the resistant ROS1 mutations, lorlatinib could be a treatment of choice in ROS1-positive NSCLC.
Start: March 2021