The FDA just approved a new therapy for the approximately 4% of patients with NSCLC who have the molecular marker known as an ALK rearrangement. The agent Zykadia (ceritinib), a "second generation" ALK inhibitor that is more effective than Xalkori (crizotinib) in lab models of ALK-positive NSCLC, and the new approval was for Zykadia as first line treatment for ALK-positive lung cancer, a setting where we have historically favored Xalkori since it was approved in 2011. .

I've written in the past about a class of proteins known as heat shock protein inhibitors as a targeted anticancer therapy, and there are a few that have been in clinical trials, including IPI-504 from Infinity Pharmaceuticals and STA-9090 from Synta Pharmaceuticals, with others also in development. The only trial that has actually been the subject of a completed clinical trial in NSCLC is IPI-504. Dr.