EML4-ALK G1202R

Several anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been developed for the treatment of echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 (EML4)-ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with the newer generation agents brigatinib, alectinib and lorlatinib showing prolonged responses. The second ALK resistance mutation detected after a chemotherapy interval, the G1202R, is the most common resistance mutation after second generation ALK TKIs and has been associated with sensitivity to third generation TKIs, such as lorlatinib. This case of a patient with EML4-ALK-rearranged NSCLC shows that sequential treatment with next-generation ALK TKIs, including rechallenge, can induce profound remissions, even in heavily pretreated patients, and that ALK-targeted strategies may be personalized by considering the presence of distinct ALK resistance mutations.

V3 status is also associated with specific patterns of clinically important ALK resistance mutations. These tumor-intrinsic features may inform rational selection and optimization of first-line and consolidative therapy.

Both fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) and bevacizumab combined with 5-fluorouracil, l-leucovorin, and irinotecan (FOLFIRI) proved ineffective against the disease...The patient was initially treated with ensartinib monotherapy for 9 months, then with ensartinib combined with local radiotherapy and fruquintinib for another 4 months for isolated hilar hepatic lymph node metastasis. The patient experienced disease progression with an acquired ALK G1202R resistance mutation that responded well to lorlatinib...However, the patient responded remarkably well to alectinib. Our report emphasizes the importance of gene detection in the treatment of malignant tumors, and the significance of ALK mutations in CRC.

Legal entity responsible for the study Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A Gemelli – IRCCS. In post-lorlatinib NGS-assay, 2 pts had ALK-compound mutations, while 4 pts had newly off-target alterations (CDKN2A/B CDKN2B loss, NF1 deletion, DNMT3A/ARID1A/CHECK2 M+). Conclusions Implementation of longitudinal genomic assessment is required in order to provide an extensive overview of resistance mechanisms and clinical outcomes according to current ALK-inhibitors treatment sequences.

Gene co-occurrence survival analysis showed that mPFS of pts harboring FAT3/FAT4 mutations were significantly shorter than those without FAT3/FAT4 mutations (8.9 mo vs 16.5 mo, p=0.012). Conclusions Clinical utility of ctDNA was demonstrated, not only at baseline by identifying fusion types and subgroups of ALK+ NSCLC pts that may benefit more from SAF-189s, but also at progression by tracking ALK-resistant mutations.

In Cohort 1 (n=21), 15 (71%) pts had progressed on alectinib, 5 (24%) on ceritinib and 1 (5%) on ensartinib. In Cohort 2 (n=18), pts had progressed on crizotinib followed by alectinib (n=9, 50%), ceritinib (n=4, 22%) or brigatinib (n=3, 17%); 2 (11%) pts progressed on crizotinib, then ceritinib followed by alectinib...Of 5 pts with ALK resistance mutations (I1171N, V1180L, L1196M, G1202R, and E1210K) who subsequently received lorlatinib, repeat ctDNA NGS after 2 months demonstrated clearance of ALK resistance mutation(s) in 4/5 (80%) pts (i.e. undetectable on repeat testing)... Resistance mechanisms to ALK inhibitors are heterogenous, including both ALK dependent and independent pathways. DDR and cell cycle gene alterations were commonly detected and may represent previously unreported acquired resistance alterations. Comprehensive ctDNA NGS analysis at progression may help detect novel resistance alterations in patients on ALK inhibitors.

However, resistance to ALK inhibitors can occur via point-mutations within the kinase domain of the EML4-ALK fusion, e.g. G1202R, reducing inhibitor effectiveness. Here, we discuss the biology of EML4-ALK variants, their impact on treatment response, ALK-TKI drug resistance mechanisms, and potential combination therapies.

19 novel imidazo[1,2-b]pyridazine macrocyclic derivatives were designed, synthesized, and tested for their biological activities in an effort to develop ALK inhibitors that would overcome second-generation ALK-TKIs, particularly the G1202R mutation and the lorlatinib-resistant L1196M/G1202R double mutations...This was equally effective to the reference drug Repotrectinib (IC = 40, 164, and 208 nM). The kinase selectivity profile, liver microsome stability test and in vivo pharmacokinetic properties in SD rats of compound O-10 were further evaluated. O-10 was regarded as an effective ALK inhibitor for the treatment of mutations overall.

Second- (ceritinib, alectinib, brigatinib, and ensartinib) and third-generation (lorlatinib) ALK TKIs have higher intracranial responses than crizotinib but are still limited by emergence of resistance mutations, most commonly G1202R-containing single and compound mutations. Patient-derived models are widely viewed as among the most disease-relevant models for evaluating new therapies and drug resistance. Using a xenograft model derived from an alectinib-relapsed patient, we showed that NVL-655 had high intracranial activity against brain tumors bearing the ALK G1202R mutation that confers resistance to multiple ALK TKIs. NVL-655 is being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for patients with advanced NSCLC and other solid tumors harboring ALK rearrangement or activating ALK mutation (ALKOVE-1): NCT05384626.

Conclusion This study shows the prolonged efficiency of crizotinib in selected patients. Additional results will be presented during the congress.

Despite early progression within 3 mo under crizotinib, a durable response was achieved with alectinib...Another rebiopsy revealed ALK:p.L1196M, but the tumor did not respond to brigatinib or carboplatin/pemetrexed, before stabilization under lorlatinib...Lorlatinib retained efficacy in the heavily pretreated setting, while its upfront use could possibly have prevented the stepwise emergence of compound ALK mutations. Furthermore, the disease course was more aggressive and OS shorter compared to the V2/TP53wt ALK+ lung adenocarcinoma, while crizotinib, ceritinib and brigatinib did not confer the benefit expected according to NGS results, which also underline the need for more potent drugs against ALK in the high-risk setting of neuroendocrine histology.

He was started on Alectinib 600mg twice daily with zoledronic acid from Aug 2017. Molecular testing and looking for ALK resistance mutation helps to choose Lorlatinib, the only sensitive TKI which targets (G1202R). This is an evolving precision based therapy, improves outcome in lung cancer.

In ALTA-2, brigatinib demonstrated limited activity in patients with ALK+ NSCLC post-ceritinib or post-alectinib therapy. Median PFS was longer with brigatinib in patients without baseline detectable plasma ALK fusion.

Five tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been approved for treatment of ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including first- (crizotinib), second- (ceritinib, alectinib, and brigatinib), and third- (lorlatinib) generation therapies. NVL-655 showed activity in diverse patient-derived models of ALK-positive cancers, including ones that exhibited clinical resistance to prior-generation ALK TKIs. The broad preclinical activity of NVL-655 suggests potential utility as a best-in-class therapy for ALK-positive cancer patients.

Results Of the 133 pts who progressed on alectinib, with or without prior crizotinib or chemotherapy, 131 had evaluable baseline plasma data. The presence of secondary ALK mutations at baseline was associated with a similar ORR (34.5%) and median DoR (5.6 months) and shorter median PFS (3.7 months), with response/clinical benefit observed in pts with G1202R, L1196M, and I1171N ALK secondary mutations. Table: 1009P Brigatinib efficacy parameters a according to baseline ALK mutation status conclusions Brigatinib showed clinically meaningful activity in pts with alectinib-resistant ALK+ NSCLC with or without a detectable ALK fusion and/or secondary mutations.

Crizotinib, ceritinib, alectinib, brigatinib, and lorlatinib are approved tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) for ALK-positive NSCLC, but durability of response is partly limited by ALK resistance mutations...Ascites mononuclear cells were isolated by Ficoll centrifugation and cultured in media (DMEM F12 Glutamax, 10% antibiotics/antimycotics, 10% FBS, hydrocortisone, adenine, RockInhibitor, and 1/10 cholera toxin)... NVL-655 has demonstrated activity in many preclinical models bearing ALK compound mutations, including the MR448re (EML4-ALK v3 G1202R/T1151M) model. The potent preclinical activity of NVL-655 suggests potential clinical utility for ALK-positive patients, including those with resistant compound mutations. The MR448re PDC and xenograft are valuable additions to the ALK therapeutic research landscape where there is limited availability of patient-derived models with lorlatinib-resistant ALK compound mutations.

No abstract available

Furthermore, the combination of ALK and STAT3 inhibitors restored the sensitivity of EML4-ALK G1202R mutant cells to ceritinib. In conclusion, these data indicate that the EML4-ALK G1202R mutation mediates the EMT phenotype by activating the STAT3/Slug signaling pathway, resulting in resistance to ceritinib, and that the combination of STAT3 and ALK inhibitors may overcome ALK mutation-driven drug resistance in the clinic.

Sequential postprogression plasma profiling revealed that increased lines of ALK inhibitors can accelerate the accumulation of ALK resistance mutations and may lead to treatment-refractory compound ALK mutations. The selection for optimal first-line TKI is very important to achieve a more efficacious long-term strategy and prevent the emergence of on-target resistance, which may provide guidance for clinical decision making.

ALK rearrangements are detected in approximately 4% of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and the tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) crizotinib, alectinib, brigatinib, ceritinib, and lorlatinib have been approved by the FDA for the treatment of ALK-positive NSCLC. The dPCR method was highly sensitive in detecting gene mutations with low allele frequency. It was also found to be able to monitor variable resistance mutations over time during ALK-TKI treatment. In addition, we found that the appearance of G1202R did not always indicate clinical acquisition of resistance that required drug modification.

This exploratory analysis highlights the potential role of NGS in improving our understanding of response and resistance to ceritinib. It also illustrates that ceritinib is active against almost all ALK resistance mutations found in ALKi-pretreated patients.

More than 60% of nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients show a positive response to the first ALK inhibitor, crizotinib, which has been used as the standard treatment for newly diagnosed patients with ALK rearrangement...These preclinical data support XMU-MP-5 as a novel selective ALK inhibitor with high potency and selectivity. XMU-MP-5 holds great promise as a new therapeutic against clinically relevant secondary ALK mutations.

Here, we report, for the first time, a novel, sequentially-evolved EML4-ALK variant 3 G1202R/S1206Y double mutation in cis detected in a patient with ALK-positive NSCLC after disease progression on sequential crizotinib, alectinib, and then lorlatinib. Three-dimensional computer modeling of this double mutation and other G1202R-based double mutations with lorlatinib (ALK G1202R/L1196M, ALK G1202R/F1174C, ALK G1202R/l1198F, ALK G1202R/G1269A) were provided to reveal how these double mutations may confer resistance to lorlatinib through diverse steric hindrances in the ALK kinase domain. In addition, we performed a comprehensive literature review on published acquired double or triple ALK mutations that are resistant to lorlatinib from both patient samples and in vitro mutagenesis experiments.

Our findings support a complementary role for ctDNA in detection of ALK fusions and other alterations at diagnosis and therapeutic resistance settings.

Furthermore, TP53 mutations being the most common genomic co-alterations in ALK+ NSCLC also contribute to the heterogeneous response to ALK TKIs. Recognizing ALK+ NSCLC is not one homogeneous disease entity but comprised of different ALK fusion variants with different underlying genomic alterations in particular TP53 mutations that modulate treatment response will provide insight into the further optimization of treatment of ALK+ NSCLC patients potentially leading to improvement in survival.

Alectinib and brigatinib, both second-generation ALK inhibitors have been compared directly to crizotinib in the first-line setting and has demonstrated improved progression free survival (PFS) and intracranial response. Ceritinib, another second-generation ALK inhibitor has been shown to be superior to chemotherapy in ALK-rearranged disease with good CNS activity...Lorlatinib, a third-generation ALK inhibitor, has demonstrated activity in the treatment naïve setting and in resistance to crizotinib and second-generation ALK inhibitors...Another new ALK inhibitor, ensartinib, has demonstrated efficacy in the first-line setting and in alectinib refractory disease. Additional studies are underway examining mechanisms of resistance and best treatment options post resistance.

The FTC analysis detected an EGFR exon 19 deletion in Case 1 (12/19 cells, 63.2%), and EML4-ALK fusion (17/20 cells, 85%) with an alectinib-resistant mutation of ALK (p.G1202R) in Case 2...The large number of WGA-associated errors were cleaned up, and the somatic mutations detected in FTCs by ASMD were concordant with those found in tissue specimens. This protocol is applicable to circulating tumor cells analysis of peripheral blood and expands the possibility of utilizing molecular profiling of cancers.

Ultimately, This patient had a progression-free survival of 7 months with crizotinib but of only one month with brigatinib treatment. (C) At progress response (PD) after 1.7 months of brigatinib. Conclusion Our findings provide valuable information about responses to brigatinib in NSCLC patients with the ALK G1202R mutation and a better understanding of ALK-TKI applications.

At last, it has the potentially anti-proliferation ability of small cell lung cancer. Thus, we have successfully generated the degrader SIAIS117 that can potentially overcome resistance in cancer targeted therapy.

Legal entity responsible for the study: Sanomics Limited. Funding: Has not received any funding.

Detection rate and distribution of ALK fusion partners are comparable to existing data of tumor ALK testing. Further data on ALK treatment outcomes of patients with detectable ALK fusion on plasma ctDNA is warranted.

Detection rate and distribution of ALK fusion partners are comparable to existing data of tumor ALK testing. Further data on ALK treatment outcomes of patients with detectable ALK fusion on plasma ctDNA is warranted.

EML4-ALK rearranged malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is rare and its responses to anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitors, including alectinib and lorlatinib, remain unexplored. Moreover, our case also revealed acquired mechanisms of lorlatinib resistance mediated by multiple mutations ALK I1171N, L1196M, and G1202R, contributing an incremental step to our understanding of the complexity of acquired resistance mechanisms in sequential ALK inhibitor therapy. The reviews of this paper are available via the supplemental material section.

When in compound with one or more ALK KDMs, resistance to lorlatinib is expected. In the case of rampantly progressive disease, rebiopsy and redefining biology in a timely manner may be informative.

" From April 2015 to July 2019, 92 patients enrolled; 81 (88.0%) received ALK TKI as first-line (crizotinib, n = 59; alectinib, n = 22), 10 (10.9%) received TKI as second-line (alectinib, n = 6; crizotinib, n = 2; ceritinib, n = 1; brigatinib, n = 1), and 1 (1.1%) was treated in third-line (lorlatinib). NGS of cell-free plasma DNA is useful not only for the detection of ALK fusions and resistance mutations but also for assessing prognosis and monitoring the dynamic changes of genomic alterations in ALK+ NSCLC treated with ALK TKI. Research Funding: Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (No.NRF-2017M3A9G5060259)Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Kor"