Clinical effect of crizotinib on lung cancer patients with EML4-ALK fusion gene mutation

Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy of crizotinib in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4-anaplastic lymphoma kinase (EML4-ALK) fusion gene mutation. Methods: Forty-eight NSCLC patients with EML4-ALK fusion gene mutation were collected and divided into the experimental group (exp group) and the control group (con group), with 24 patients in each group. The experimental group received crizotinib twice daily, and the control group received intravenous chemotherapy of pemetrexed combined with cisplatin three times a week. The systemic nutrition, immune status, incidence of adverse reactions, KPS life quality score and patient satisfaction after 3 months, and survival rate of patients within 6 months were compared between the two groups. Results: There was no significant difference in nutritional status between the two groups before treatment (P>0.05). After treatment, the prealbumin and albumin levels in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group. The CD4+/CD8+ ratio in the experimental group was markedly higher than that in the control group, and the incidence of adverse reactions was obviously reduced in the experimental group. The KPS life quality score and patient satisfaction after 3 months in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group, with statistically significant differences (all P<0.05). The survival rate in the experimental group at 6 months after surgery was 50%, which was notably higher than the survival rate of 30% in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: Crizotinib is more effective than intravenous chemotherapy in the treatment of NSCLC with EML4-ALK fusion gene mutation. It may be widely used in clinical practice.