ALK-rearranged squamous cell lung cancer: a case report

ALK rearrangement is a very rare subset of squamous cell cancer of lung and the efficacy of crizotinib treatment for these patients is lack of data. Here we report a case with squamous cell cancer of lung that harbored the ALK rearrangement was given crizotinib in the second-line therapy. A 55-year-old female patient was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of lung by bronchoscopy biopsy with stage IV. The patient was given two cycles of chemotherapy and the response was progressive disease. After failure to chemotherapy, genotype testing showed wild-type EGFR/KRAS and ALK rearrangement positive. The patient was administered with crizotinib and had a partial response, and the progression-free survival was 6 months. The side effects were tolerable.