A long-term survivor of non-small-cell lung cancer harboring concomitant EGFR mutation and ALK translocation

In January 2003, a 55-year old, non-smoking woman visited our hospital to undergo treatment for T4N0M0 pulmonary adenocarcinoma of the left lung. Until death in October 2015, she received over 20 lines of treatment including a second line therapy with gefitinib, which showed long response. In March 2014, she noticed the left axillar lymph node swelling. Aspiration cytology of the lymph node revealed the presence of adenocarcinoma harboring EGFR exon 19 deletion (Ex19del) but not T790M. Concomitant ALK translocation of variant 1 was also detected. Crizotinib and alectinib showed marked decrease of serum CEA value from 731.9 to 122.2 and moderate radiologic response. In contrast, both Ex19del and T790M, but not ALK translocation, were detected in the metastasis to the left anterior chest wall.