ILCN Multidisciplinary Forum: Molecular Mysteries

At the age of 32 Lisa presented with shortness of breath and a cough during her pregnancy with her second child. After being diagnosed with prenatal asthma she was given an inhaler but her symptoms did not improve. At 38 weeks chest x-rays revealed no significant findings or reasons for her symptoms. 4 months after the delivery of her child a CT scan revealed a mass in Lisa's right lung. After two tissue biopsies Lisa was diagnosed with ALK+ Lung Cancer. Watch as experts discuss the role that Liquid Biopsy could play in the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of NSCLC. 

Unfortunately, the inevitability of therapeutic resistance is always looming for patients with EGFR-mutated lung cancer, regardless of PD-1/PD-L1 status. Dr. Karen Reckamp—together with Drs. Ibiaya Dagogo-Jack, Ticiana Leal, and Daniel Tan, as well as patient advocate Sarah Christ—talks through a patient case, exploring all facets of the care continuum for this population. 

ALK research and therapy has evolved substantially since the original PROFILE 1001 study, which first evaluated crizotinib for patients with ALK-rearranged NSCLC. Patient advocate and ALK-positive survivor of more than 15 years, Linnea Olsen, was the fourth person in the world to go on that trial. 

When the initial molecular report suggested a ROS1 rearrangement, crizotinib was started in expectation of a typically great response. However, when the first on-treatment scan showed an increase in the size of the lung cancer it became obvious that this case was far from typical.