Khadeja Khan
Difference of prevalence of ALK mutation in Hispanic vs Non-Hispanic patients with Non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC)
Poster Presentation
Ph. D in Health and Life Sciences
In recent years a new acquired gene mutation called ALK (anaplastic lymphoma kinase) has been identified in a few types of cancer but particularly in metastatic lung cancer. This fuses with EML4 (echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4) to form a fused gene that leads to the production of an abnormal type of tyrosine kinase. Precision medicine and detection of driver mutations is an invaluable tool in the management of NSCLC. According to SEER database, the overall prevalence of ALK rearrangements in all patients with Lung Adenocarcinoma was reported as 6-8%, but only 1-2% in Non-Hispanic White (NHW) patients. Molecular genomic profiling has been extensively studied in NHW, African-Americans, Asians; however, little is known about frequency and characteristics of ALK rearrangements in lung cancer amongst Hispanics. Given the ever-increasing diversity in the United States, it is crucial to be knowledgeable about genetic variations in lung malignancy across all ethnic backgrounds. This study can have implications on how ALK+ lung cancer patients can be treated.The data was analyzed by using Medcalc which entails a comparison of proportions to compare the two percentages (in proportion form). The result was not significant and the null hypothesis was not rejected since the study was not able to show any significant difference between the two groups.
Author(s): Dempsey N, Gawri K, Otavio J, Khadeja K, Fanfan D, Lopes G, Dawar R., Adrianne C.