Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitors in the treatment of ALK-driven lung cancers

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase is expressed in two-thirds of the anaplastic large-cell lymphomas as an NPM-ALK fusion protein. Physiological ALK is a receptor protein-tyrosine kinase within the insulin receptor superfamily of proteins that participates in nervous system development. The EML4-ALK fusion protein and four other ALK-fusion proteins play a fundamental role in the development in about 5% of non-small cell lung cancers. The amino-terminal...