Generic placeholder image

Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1871-5206
ISSN (Online): 1875-5992

Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase as a Therapeutic Target in Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Neuroblastoma

Author(s): Mangeng Cheng and Gregory R. Ott

Volume 10, Issue 3, 2010

Page: [236 - 249] Pages: 14

DOI: 10.2174/1871520611009030236

Price: $65

Abstract

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), a receptor tyrosine kinase in the insulin receptor superfamily, was originally identified as the oncogenic NPM (nucleophosmin)-ALK fusion protein due to a t (2;5) chromosomal translocation in anaplastic large cell lymphomas. Many other chromosomal rearrangements or gene mutations/amplification leading to enhanced ALK activity have subsequently been identified and characterized in a number of human cancer types. The recent reports of EML4 (echinoderm microtubule-associated protein- like 4)-ALK oncogenic proteins in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the identification of ALK activating point mutations and gene amplification in neuroblastoma have indicated ALK as a potential major therapeutic target for human cancers. In this review, the role of oncogenic ALK in development of various human cancers is summarized and the efforts and progress of developing small molecule ALK inhibitors as potential cancer therapeutics are updated. Several small molecule ALK inhibitors from distinctive chemical scaffolds in either clinical or preclinical development stage are highlighted and profiled. The challenges and future directions of developing small molecule ALK inhibitors as cancer therapeutics are discussed.

Keywords: Anaplastic lymphoma kinase, chromosomal translocation, anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor, non-small cell lung carcinoma, activating mutation, neuroblastoma, tyrosine kinase inhibitor


Rights & Permissions Print Cite
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy