Dr. Kris Discusses Crizotinib in ALK-Positive Lung Cancer

Mark G. Kris, MD, chief of the Thoracic Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the results of a phase III trial presented at the ESMO 2012 Congress that studied the use of crizotinib (Xalkori) in patients with advanced ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Crizotinib prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) by 7.7 months compared to 3.0 months among patients treated with single-agent chemotherapy, either pemetrexed or docetaxel (HR 0.49; 95% CI 0.37—0.64 ; P < .0001). The overall response rate was also significantly higher in patients treated with crizotinib at 65% versus 20%. (P < .0001).

Kris believes that physicians should find confidence in both statistically significant data as well as the benefits demonstrated in a greater number of patients for the efficacy of crizotinib in ALK-positive NSCLC.