To date, there have been no head-to-head randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the safety and efficacy of lorlatinib and alectinib in anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangement-positive (ALK-p) ALK-inhibitor‒naïve advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We performed a network meta-analysis comparing six treatment arms (lorlatinib, brigatinib, alectinib, ceritinib, crizotinib, and platinum-based chemotherapy) in overall participants and in Asian and non-Asian subgroups. Primary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and grade 3 or higher adverse events (G3-AEs). There were no significant differences between lorlatinib and alectinib in overall participants for both PFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.742; 95% credible interval [CrI], 0.466-1.180) and OS (HR, 1.180; 95% CrI, 0.590-2.354). In the Asian subgroup, there were no significant differences in PFS between lorlatinib and alectinib (HR, 1.423; 95% CrI, 0.748-2.708); however, in the non-Asian subgroup, PFS was significantly better with lorlatinib than with alectinib (HR, 0.388; 95% CrI, 0.195-0.769). The incidence of G3-AEs in overall participants was significantly higher with lorlatinib than with alectinib (risk ratio, 1.918; 95% CrI, 1.486-2.475). These results provide valuable information regarding the safety and efficacy of lorlatinib in ALK-p ALK-inhibitor‒naïve advanced NSCLC. Larger head-to-head RCTs are needed to validate the study results.
Keywords: ALK rearrangement; alectinib; lorlatinib.