gene expression status in pleural effusion predicts tumor responsiveness to crizotinib in Chinese patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

OBJECTIVE

The relationship between anaplastic lymphoma kinase () expression in malignant pleural effusion (MPE) samples detected only by Ventana immunohistochemistry (IHC) ALK (D5F3) and the efficacy of -tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy is uncertain.

METHODS

Ventana anti-ALK (D5F3) rabbit monoclonal primary antibody testing was performed on 313 cell blocks of MPE samples from Chinese patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma, and fluorescence hybridization (FISH) was used to verify the gene status in Ventana IHC ALK (D5F3)-positive samples. The follow-up clinical data on patients who received crizotinib treatment were recorded.

RESULTS

Of the 313 MPE samples, 27 (8.6%) were confirmed as expression-positive, and the Ventana IHC ALK (D5F3)-positive rate was 17.3% (27/156) in wild-type epidermal growth factor receptor () MPE samples. Twenty-three of the 27 IHC ALK (D5F3)-positive samples were positive by FISH. Of the 11 Ventana IHC ALK (D5F3)-positive patients who received crizotinib therapy, 2 patients had complete response (CR), 5 had partial response (PR) and 3 had stable disease (SD).

CONCLUSIONS

The gene expression status detected by the Ventana IHC ALK (D5F3) platform in MPE samples may predict tumor responsiveness to crizotinib in Chinese patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma.