Relatively normal lung function in ALK-positive patients – an indicator for ALK positivity as well as non-increased risk of bronchoscopic re-biopsy

Background: Emerging treatment options in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) related to multiple molecular targets brought new hope to lung cancer patients and new technical options for clinicians. Objective: In our study we analyzed the lung-function of ALK-positive and ALK-negative patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung to estimate the risk of re-biopsy. Furthermore, we wanted to assess whether lung-function testing could serve as a criterion to increase the yield of EML4-ALK testing. Methods: Retrospective analysis of lung-function parameters of stage IV NSCLC patients with adenocarcinoma of the lu…