Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41139663›Full record

ArticleChinese medical journal2026

Induction alectinib or crizotinib for stage III NSCLC harboring ALK fusion: A study with 4-year follow-up.

Chao Zhang, Siyang Liu, Benyuan Jiang, Zhiyong Chen, Lixu Yan, Zhenbin Qiu, Juntao Lin, Xuening Yang, Yilong Wu, Hao Sun and 1 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Chinese medical journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Chao ZhangSchool of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510006, China.
Siyang LiuGuangdong Lung Cancer Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine in Lung Cancer, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
Benyuan JiangGuangdong Lung Cancer Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine in Lung Cancer, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
Zhiyong ChenDepartment of Radiotherapy, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
Lixu YanDepartment of Pathology, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
Zhenbin QiuSchool of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510006, China.
Juntao LinGuangdong Lung Cancer Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine in Lung Cancer, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
Xuening YangGuangdong Lung Cancer Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine in Lung Cancer, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
Yilong WuGuangdong Lung Cancer Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine in Lung Cancer, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
Hao SunGuangdong Lung Cancer Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine in Lung Cancer, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
Wenzhao ZhongGuangdong Lung Cancer Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine in Lung Cancer, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDespite increased response and long-term benefit of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring ALK -fusion, the role of induction ALK-TKIs in locally advanced NSCLC remained poorly investigated. This study aimed to demonstrate the short-term and long-term efficacy of ALK-targeted induction therapy in stage III lung cancer.

methodsWe consecutively collected data of patients from Guangdong Lung Cancer Institute since 2016, and those who were pathologically confirmed stages IIIA-IIIB NSCLC treated with induction ALK-TKIs initially were eligible for subsequent analysis. Patients' clinicopathological features as well as therapeutic management were fully reviewed. Analysis of longitudinal single-cell RNA sequencing from patients treated with alectinib were performed. Fisher's exact test was used to compare two categorical variable and Kaplan-Meier was applied for survival curve with estimation for median and 95% confidence interval (CI) value if available.

resultsForty stage III NSCLC patients treated with either alectinib or crizotinib were enrolled. Among those who had surgery, all patients had R0 resection without postoperative radiotherapy. Only two patients suffered grade 2 postoperative complications in terms of Clavien-Dindo score. Induction alectinib showed numerically superior pathological response compared with crizotinib with both major pathological response (MPR) (11/17, 64.7% vs. 6/13, 46.2%, P = 0.46) and complete pathological response (pCR) (6/17, 35% vs. 2/13, 15%, P = 0.41). Patients who received induction alectinib had significantly longer PFS (not reached [NR] vs. 17.9 months, P <0.001) and numerically improved overall survival (NR vs. NR, P = 0.092) compared with crizotinib. Brain metastasis remained the most common recurrent pattern after induction ALK-TKIs. Longitudinal single-cell RNA sequencing revealed increased tumor stemness and induced a more suppressive immune microenvironment in the residual tumor while highly inflamed microenvironment along with low infiltrating regulatory T cell and exhausted T cell was observed in resected specimens which achieved pCR.

conclusionInduction ALK-TKIs provided a clinically efficient and well-tolerated therapeutic strategy in locally advanced ALK-positive NSCLC.

Indexed as

Anaplastic Lymphoma KinaseCarbazolesCarcinoma, Non-Small-Cell LungCrizotinibLung NeoplasmsPiperidinesAdultAgedFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleMiddle AgedProtein Kinase InhibitorsalectinibALK protein, humanAnaplastic Lymphoma KinaseCarbazolesCrizotinibPiperidinesProtein Kinase InhibitorsAnaplastic lymphoma kinaseInduction treatmentNon-small cell lung cancerStage III

Identifiers

PMID41139663
PMCPMC13120571

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.