LDK378 Versus Chemotherapy in Previously Untreated Patients With ALK Rearranged Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Key Inclusion Criteria

• The patient had a histologically or cytologically confirmed diagnosis of non-squamous Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that was Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) positive as assessed by the Ventana Immunohistochemistry (IHC) test. The test was performed at Novartis designated central laboratories.
• The patient had a newly diagnosed stage IIIB (who was not a candidate for definitive multimodality therapy) or stage IV NSCLC or relapsed locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC not previously treated with any systemic anti-cancer therapy (e.g. cytotoxic drugs, monoclonal antibody therapy, crizotinib or other ALK inhibitors, or other targeted therapies, either experimental or not), with the exception of neo-adjuvant or adjuvant therapy.
• The patient had at least one measurable lesion as defined by RECIST 1.1.

Key Exclusion Criteria

• The patient had known hypersensitivity to any of the excipients of LDK378 (microcrystalline cellulose, mannitol, crospovidone, colloidal silicon dioxide, and magnesium stearate).
• The patient had a history of severe hypersensitivity reaction to platinum-containing drugs, pemetrexed, or any known excipients of these drugs.
• The patient had symptomatic central nervous system (CNS) metastases and was neurologically unstable or had required increasing doses of steroids within the 2 weeks prior to screening to manage CNS symptoms.