Prevalence and Clinical Outcomes for Patients With ALK Gene Rearrangement in Europe: Preliminary Results from the European Thoracic Oncology Platform Lungscape Project

ABSTRACT Background The prevalence of ALK gene rearrangement (ALK+) in European patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unknown. The Lungscape project provides a platform to evaluate its expression and clinical significance in a large cohort of patients with resected NSCLC from 13 European sites in 11 countries. Methods Participating sites retrospectively identified cases of NSCLC with clinical demographic and outcome data, and available tissue for research according to predefined protocol criteria. Local ethical and regulatory approvals were adhered to. Clinical data were entered to a central, secure database. Accepted cases on the basis of completeness of clinical data were as…