Background: In non-small cell lung cancer, anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene rearrangement (ALK+) and epidermal growth factor receptor mutations (EGFR+) are targetable with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Patients and Methods: 27 patients with ALK+ tumours, who underwent positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) prior to any treatment, were identified. 2 equally sized control groups based on consecutive patients with EGFR+ and EGFR/ALK wild-type (wt) were identified. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUV_max), tumour location (central vs. peripheral), as well as patient- and disease-specific characteristics were collected. Results: Mutation status was significantly associated with SUV_max (p < 0.008). The median SUV_max of the primary tumour in the lung for ALK+ patients (SUV_max 13) was significantly higher compared to that of the EGFR+ (SUV_max 9.8, p = 0.010) and the EGFR/ALK_wt group (SUV_max 9.6, p = 0.022). No difference was observed between the EGFR+ and the EGFR/ALK_wt group (p = 0.961). Mutation status was also associated with primary tumour location (p = 0.001). There was a significantly lower rate of central tumours in the EGFR+ group when compared to ALK+ tumours (15%, p = 0.002). Among EGFR/ALK_wt tumours, 41% were central compared to 63% of ALK+ tumours (p = 0.235). Conclusion: On initial PET-CT, ALK+ primary lung tumours showed a higher SUV_max and were more frequently centrally located while peripheral tumours were more likely to be EGFR+.

No abstract

No abstract