Abstract

About 4% to 7% of the non-small-cell lung cancer patients have anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements, and specific targeted therapies improve patients' outcomes significantly. ALK gene fusions are detected by immunohistochemistry or fluorescent in situ hybridization as gold standards in South America. Next-generation sequencing-based assays are a reliable alternative, able to perform simultaneous detection of multiple events from a single sample. We analyzed 4240 non-small-cell lung cancer samples collected in 37 hospitals from Chile, Brazil, and Peru, where ALK rearrangements were determined as part of their standard of care (SofC) using either immunohistochemistry or fluorescent in situ hybridization. A subset of 1450 samples was sequenced with the Oncomine Focus Assay (OFA), and the concordance with the SofC tests was measured. An orthogonal analysis was performed using a real-time quantitative PCR echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4-ALK fusion detection kit. ALK fusion prevalence is similar for Chile (3.67%; N = 2142), Brazil (4.05%; N = 1013), and Peru (4.59%; N = 675). Although a comparison between OFA and SofC assays showed similar sensitivity, OFA had significantly higher specificity and higher positive predictive value, which opens new opportunities for a more specific determination of ALK gene rearrangements.