Successful management of lung adenocarcinoma with ALK/EGFR co-alterations and PD-L1 over-expression by bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy

Abstract

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)/epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) co-alterations in adenocarcinomas are rare and no therapeutic consensus is reached. The potentially negative prognostic effects of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression on tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKIs) efficacy further complicates the treatment options for patients with ALK/EGFR co-alterations and PD-L1 over-expression. We describe a case of advanced lung adenocarcinoma, harboring concurrent ALK/EGFR mutations and extremely high PD-L1 expression, that achieved sustained remission by the first-line treatment strategy of antiangiogenic therapy combined with chemotherapy. It is our firm conviction that the use anti-angiogenics should not have fallen out of favor in this era of targeted therapy and checkpoint inhibitors.

Keywords: ALK/EGFR co-alterations; Angiogenesis; Bevacizumab; Chemotherapy; Non-small-cell lung cancer; PD-L1 over-expression.