Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (NSCLC)

Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) is a receptor tyrosine kinase encoded by a gene located on the short arm of chromosome 2. ALK was first identified via a translocation involving the nucleophosmin gene occurring in anaplastic large cell lymphomas. Translocations involving the ALK gene have also been identified in 2-5% of non-small cell lung cancers where they are usually associated with the echinoderm microtubule protein-like 4 (EML4) gene. A common factor in all these gene mutations is that the resulting chimeric proteins they encode retain the intracellular kinase domain of the ALK protein and their overexpression may therefore promote oncogenesis. Immunohistochemical detection of chimeric ALK proteins has been demonstrated to correlate well with identification of translocations by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH).

 

ALK is recommended for the detection of specific antigens of interest in normal and neoplastic tissues, as an adjunct to conventional histopathology using nonimmunologic histochemical stains.

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