The correlation between crizotinib efficacy and molecular heterogeneity by next-generation sequencing in non-small cell lung cancer

Lung cancer is the primary reason for malignant tumour morbidity and death globally and in China. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 80–85% of all lung cancer patients. Patients usually lose the opportunity for surgery when they first visit the doctor due to the high malignancy of lung cancer, which leads to the inclination towards conservative treatment (1,2). In recent years, with the rapid progression of molecular level investigations in lung cancer, several driver mutations have been recognized, including the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene and the EML4-ALK rearrangement, and the treatment therapy of NSCLC has been remarkably changed. The therapeutic regimens based on the targeted tyrosine kinase have gained rapid and striking therapeutic achievements in specific genotype populations (3-6)