Dr. Riess on ROS1 Fusions in Lung Cancer

Jonathan Riess, MD, assistant professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses ROS1 fusions in lung cancer.

ROS1 fusions represent about 1% to 2% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and are typically detected by FISH or DNA sequencing methods.

Crizotinib (Xalkori) was recently approved by the FDA for treating ROS1 rearranged NSCLC. In a clinical trial examining the drug, 50 patients achieved an overall response rate of 70%, with a progression-free survival rate of 19 months, says Riess.'

Patients can develop resistance to crizotinib, as certain mutations can prevent the drug from binding to ROS1. There are several new drugs in development that may be able to overcome this resistance, explains Riess. For example, lorlatinib has been demonstrated to overcome such resistance mutations.