Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) Rearrangement of Lung Adenocarcinoma among North Sumatera Population

Introduction: Lung cancer is a malignancy of the lung parenchyma or bronchi. Globally, cases and deaths of lung cancer continue to increase. Lung cancer remains the most common cancer diagnosis in males. Molecular targeted therapy directed at oncogene driver mutations, such as ALK, improves the prognosis of patients with NSCLC. This study aims to determine the characteristics of lung adenocarcinoma patients and the prevalence of ALK rearrangement among the North Sumatra population.

Methods: This is a descriptive study using data from patient's FFPE ALK examination results and medical records. The laboratory will analyze the patient’s FFPE for ALK fusion protein expression using the VENTANA anti-ALK (D5F3) procedure to determine the prevalence of ALK rearrangement.

Results: Of the 34 subjects, it was revealed that the characteristics of lung adenocarcinoma patients were 18 patients aged >60 years (52.9%), male gender 26 patients (76.4%), and heavy smokers 24 patients (70.6%). Based on the pTNM stage, most samples were classified as Stage IVA, with 24 cases (70.6%) showing the highest incidence of metastases to the pleura. There were 2 cases of ALK mutations obtained through immunohistochemical examination with a percentage of 5.8%.

Conclusion: There are relatively few ALK rearrangement mutations in lung adenocarcinoma patients without screening. Additional research is needed to ascertain the distribution of lung adenocarcinoma patient characteristics associated with a higher prevalence of ALK rearrangement mutations.