Alectinib is an exceptional drug against CNS metastases!

Alectinib (produced by Roche) has shown an extraordinary efficacy never seen before by any other new-targeted therapies in development. In the ALEX trial, which explored the agent in the frontline setting in ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer patients, the CNS-specific objective response rate (ORR) with alectinib was 36% compared with 28.6% with crizotinib (Xalkori) in patients treated with prior radiotherapy. For those without prior radiotherapy, alectinib showed a CNS ORR of 74.4% versus just 24.3% with crizotinib.
In those with CNS metastases treated with radiotherapy, the median PFS was not reached with alectinib versus 12.7 months with crizotinib (HR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.15-0.78; P = .0078). Those without prior radiotherapy had a median PFS of 14.0 months with alectinib versus 7.2 months with crizotinib (HR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.25-0.78; P = .0041).

“This is another important goal reached in the field of thoracic oncology. A drug which has this activity on brain metastases can allow to modify treatment and reduce the need for whole brain radiotherapy."