Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD

Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD, Arthur & Rosalie Kaplan Chair in Medical Oncology, associate director for clinical sciences at City of Hope, discusses the FDA approval of lorlatinib for use in patients with 

-positive metastatic non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

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Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD, Arthur & Rosalie Kaplan Chair in Medical Oncology, associate director for clinical sciences at City of Hope, discusses the FDA approval of lorlatinib for use in patients with ALK-positive metastatic non–small cell lung cancer.

Dr. Salgia on FDA Approval of Lorlatinib in ALK+ NSCLC

Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD, associate director, Clinical Sciences Research, Arthur & Rosalie Kaplan Chair, Medical Oncology, professor and chair, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, City of Hope, discusses effective agents in the treatment of patients with 

The phase I clinical trial that investigated crizotinib (Xalkori) was initially designed to examine the compound as a MET inhibitor. Investigators later realized that it was also an effective ALK inhibitor, Salgia says. The drug was later approved by the FDA because of its durable progression-free survival in third-line, fourth-line, and fifth-line therapies.

There are other tyrosine-kinase inhibitors for 

-positive patients, such as ceritinib (Zykadia), brigatinib (Alunbrig), and alectinib (Alecensa). Now, researchers are looking at how to optimally sequence these agents.

Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD, associate director, Clinical Sciences Research, Arthur & Rosalie Kaplan Chair, Medical Oncology, professor and chair, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, City of Hope, discusses effective agents in the treatment of patients with ALK-positive tumors.

Dr. Salgia on Crizotinib and Other TKIs in ALK-Positive NSCLC

Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD, Arthur & Rosalie Kaplan Chair in Medical Oncology, associate director for clinical sciences at City of Hope, discusses the importance of molecular markers in lung cancer.

Lung cancer can be subdivided into histology subtypes, like non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer. There are also adenocarcinomas, nonsquamous cell carcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas, and sometimes large cell carcinomas, but there are also subsets in terms of molecular markers, Salgia adds. There are 

 translocations, which can be discovered through a molecular test.

Salgia says that molecular testing is imperative and standard. Molecular testing can indicate a targetable pathway for a patient, and can open up additional treatment options if the patient harbors a particular mutation. As a standard practice in NSCLC, molecular testing has transformed therapeutic approaches and sequencing for patients.

Dr. Salgia on Importance of Molecular Markers in Lung Cancer

Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD, Arthur & Rosalie Kaplan Chair in Medical Oncology, associate director for clinical sciences at City of Hope, discusses the importance of next-generation sequencing for patients with lung cancer.

Next-generation sequencing can detect mutations, translocations, and amplifications, explains Salgia. The FDA has just approved one of the tests. It is important for the test to be in the tumor tissue, but there might not be enough tissue in the lung. If there is not enough tumor tissue, a liquid biopsy is a possible alternative, according to Salgia.

Author | Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD

Articles

Dr. Salgia on FDA Approval of Lorlatinib in ALK+ NSCLC

Dr. Salgia on Crizotinib and Other TKIs in ALK-Positive NSCLC

Dr. Salgia on Importance of Molecular Markers in Lung Cancer

Dr. Salgia on Next-Generation Sequencing in Lung Cancer