{"entity":{"id":"paper-singhi-alk-rearrangements-pancreatic-jnccn-2017","kind":"paper","name":"Identification of targetable ALK rearrangements in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma","aka":[],"tldr":"Screening 3,170 pancreatic cancers found five with an ALK gene fusion, all in patients under 50 and none with a KRAS mutation, and three of four treated with ALK inhibitors benefited.","summary":"Comprehensive genomic profiling of 3,170 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas identified 5 cases (0.16%) with an ALK fusion: exon 6 EML4-exon 20 ALK (3), exon 13 EML4-exon 20 ALK (1) and exon 3 STRN-exon 20 ALK (1). Activating KRAS mutations were absent in all 5, who were under 50; among patients under 50, ALK translocations were 1.3% of cancers. Four of 5 were treated with an ALK inhibitor and 3 showed stable disease, radiographic response and/or CA 19-9 normalisation.","asOf":"2026-09-24","links":[{"label":"Singhi et al., JNCCN 2017: ALK rearrangements in 5 of 3,170 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas","url":"https://doi.org/10.6004/jnccn.2017.0058"},{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28476735/"}],"tags":[],"related":["alk-fusion"],"cancers":["pancreatic","kras-wild-type-pdac"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":["alk"],"drugs":["crizotinib","alectinib"],"companies":[],"institutions":["upmc-hillman"],"pathways":["rtk-activation"],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"journal":"Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network","year":2017,"doi":"10.6004/jnccn.2017.0058","pmid":"28476735","authors":"Singhi AD, Ali SM, Lacy J, et al.","paperType":"real-world","findings":["ALK fusions in 5 of 3,170 (0.16%), 1.3% of patients under 50, all KRAS wild-type.","3 of 4 treated with ALK inhibitors benefited."],"whatItMeans":"ALK is the reason young, KRAS wild-type patients should have fusion testing even though the overall rate is one in six hundred.","caveats":["Five cases; response data are case-level.","Commercial referral cohort."],"changedPractice":false,"participants":3170},"route":"/key-papers/paper-singhi-alk-rearrangements-pancreatic-jnccn-2017/","neighbours":{"biomarker":[{"id":"alk-fusion","kind":"biomarker","name":"ALK fusion (ALK-positive)","route":"/biomarkers/alk-fusion/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"kras-wild-type-pdac","kind":"cancer","name":"KRAS wild-type pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma","route":"/cancers/kras-wild-type-pdac/"},{"id":"pancreatic","kind":"cancer","name":"Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma","route":"/cancers/pancreatic/"}],"target":[{"id":"alk","kind":"target","name":"ALK","route":"/targets/alk/"}],"drug":[{"id":"alectinib","kind":"drug","name":"Alectinib","route":"/drugs/alectinib/"},{"id":"crizotinib","kind":"drug","name":"Crizotinib","route":"/drugs/crizotinib/"}],"institution":[{"id":"upmc-hillman","kind":"institution","name":"UPMC Hillman Cancer Center","route":"/institutions/upmc-hillman/"}],"pathway":[{"id":"rtk-activation","kind":"pathway","name":"Receptor tyrosine kinase activation","route":"/pathways/rtk-activation/"}]}}