Oligo-recurrence from anaplastic lymphoma kinase-rearranged lung adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase rearranged non-small-cell lung cancer is a rare disease. Among them, a subset of patients exist who exhibit relatively slowly progressing symptoms and have oligo-metastases. In this article, we present two cases of ALK rearranged lung adenocarcinoma in patients who experienced postoperative oligo-recurrence. Both cases were treated with surgical resection and gamma knife irradiation for oligo-recurrence. After local therapy, the first patient remained disease free for over 23 months; the second for over 18 months. It appears that some patients with ALK rearranged NSCLC experience oligo-recurrence in their clinical course. For such patients, appropriate local therapy may be beneficial in improving both the quality of life and the prognosis.