Alectinib Versus Crizotinib for Previously Untreated Alk-positive Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer : A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The safety and efficacy profiles of alectinib versus crizotinib for patients with previously untreated anaplastic lymphoma kinase （ALK）-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer still remains to be elucidated. We compared the overall efficacies of alectinib and crizotinib for previously untreated ALK-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer through a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. The primary outcome was progression-free survival （PFS）. Pooled estimates were calculated as hazard ratios with 95％ confidence intervals. Two studies on alectinib met the inclusion criteria for this meta-analysis. The hazard ratio （95％ confidence interval） of alectinib for PFS, relative to crizotinib, was 0.41 （0.28-0.60）, demonstrating a superior overall efficacy of alectinib over crizotinib, in terms of PFS.