Multicenter study of crizotinib plus chemotherapy for ALK-positive anaplastic large-cell lymphoma in pediatric patients

Anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) is characterized by a translocation involving the ALK gene in almost all pediatric cases. Crizotinib (CZ) inhibits ALK. The CZ arm of the Children’s Oncology Group trial ANHL12P1 evaluated CZ added to chemotherapy for newly diagnosed nonlocalized ALK+ CD30+ ALCL. The event-free survival was higher than what was seen in most previous studies and similar to that observed in a study using brentuximab vedotin and chemotherapy. Twenty percent of patients experienced a thromboembolic event if they were not receiving anticoagulation. The authors conclude that given the risk of CZ-associated thromboembolic events, brentuximab vedotin may continue to be the preferred agent.