Skip to content
Triangle logo TriangleGet started
← Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

HEALTH PROFESSIONAL · SOURCE READING

Crizotinib

Source: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version, National Cancer Institute.

Source updated: May 15, 2025 · Captured 2026-09-09.

Selected source text with whitespace normalised. This Triangle page is not an NCI PDQ summary.

Context: Treatment of Newly Diagnosed Stage IV, Relapsed, and Recurrent NSCLC / Treatment Options for Newly Diagnosed Stage IV, Relapsed, and Recurrent NSCLC (First-Line Therapy) / ALK inhibitors (for patients with ALK translocations)

Evidence (crizotinib):

In an open-label, randomized, phase III study, 343 patients with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC harboring translocations in ALK received either 250 mg of crizotinib orally twice a day or the combination of pemetrexed and cisplatin or carboplatin for up to six cycles.[68] At the time of disease progression, patients on the chemotherapy arm were allowed to cross over to crizotinib; 60% of patients in the chemotherapy arm subsequently received crizotinib. The primary end point of this study was PFS.

Source links and citations

In an open-label, randomized, phase III study, 343 patients with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC harboring translocations in ALK received either 250 mg of crizotinib orally twice a day or the combination of pemetrexed and cisplatin or carboplatin for up to six cycles.[68] At the time of disease progression, patients on the chemotherapy arm were allowed to cross over to crizotinib; 60% of patients in the chemotherapy arm subsequently received crizotinib. The primary end point of this study was PFS.

The study met its primary end point and demonstrated that crizotinib is superior to chemotherapy in prolonging PFS (median, 10.9 months vs. 7.0 months; HR, 0.454; 95% CI, 0.346–0.596; P < .0001).[69][Level of evidence B1]

Source links and citations

Publication references

Read the original reference and check its publication notices.

Preserved source evidence · Not medical advice