A targeted pill shrank one woman's lung cancer and brain spots
Original title: First-Line Lorlatinib for ALK-Rearranged Pulmonary Large-Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma with Brain Metastases and Suspected Leptomeningeal Involvement: A Case Report and Literature Review.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
This is a report on one patient, not a trial in a group of people.
The short version
One woman with a rare lung cancer took a pill, and her tumors got smaller, including the ones in her brain.
What was studied. Doctors wrote up the case of one patient, a 58-year-old woman with a rare lung cancer called large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. It had spread to her brain. Gene testing found a change called ALK, so she was given a pill called lorlatinib as her first treatment.
What they found. Her tumors got smaller, but did not go away. The main tumor in her lung shrank, and so did the spots in her brain. The doctors also looked back at past reports. Those reports found this ALK gene change shows up more often in patients who are younger, female, and who never smoked or smoked a little.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: If you have this rare lung cancer, gene testing may be worth asking about. If a test finds a change like ALK, a targeted pill may be an option to talk over with your doctor. This drug is already used for other lung cancers with the same gene change.
What it doesn't mean: This is one person's story, not a study in many people. One case cannot show how often the drug helps, or who it helps. Her tumors got smaller but did not go away, and the report does not say how long that lasted. It is not a cure, and it is not proof that this treatment works for this rare cancer.
Source: PubMed, August 19, 2026 · Read the original
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