New treatment options and challenges for patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive non-small cell lung cancer with brain metastases

Up to a third of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may develop brain metastases, typically portending a poor prognosis (1). Data suggest that median overall survival (OS) for patients who develop brain metastases after diagnosis is 10 months, and even shorter for patients who present with brain metastases at time of diagnosis (as low as 5 months) (2).