Lorlatinib beyond progression plus platinum/pemetrexed for ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer patients: report of two cases

Abstract

Lorlatinib is an active treatment for advanced anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) pretreated with ALK-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (-TKIs). However, there is paucity of data on the activity of platinum/pemetrexed chemotherapy administered at the time of progression on lorlatinib. In addition, it is uncertain whether continuation of lorlatinib beyond progression (LBP) would provide any additional clinical benefit. Here, we describe two cases experiencing an exceptional response to platinum/pemetrexed chemotherapy plus LBP and make an attempt to identify which patients' characteristics and biologic profiles of the tumor could predict benefit from such an approach. In this report, presence of controlled brain metastases, rapidly progressing extracranial disease, and presence of ALK-dependent mechanisms of resistance were associated with benefit from platinum/pemetrexed chemotherapy plus lorlatinib beyond progression.

Keywords: ALK; F1174L; G1202R/F1174V; brain metastases; compound mutations; lorlatinib; non-small cell lung cancer; platinum/pemetrexed.