Yoshihiro Yamashita

TL;DR: It is shown that a small inversion within chromosome 2p results in the formation of a fusion gene comprising portions of the echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 (EML4) gene and the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells.

TL;DR: The discovery of two secondary mutations within the kinase domain of EML4-ALK in tumor cells isolated from a patient during the relapse phase of treatment with an ALK inhibitor are reported.

TL;DR: An intercalated antibody-enhanced polymer (iAEP) method that incorporates an intercalating antibody between the primary antibody to ALK and the dextran polymer-based detection reagents should prove suitable for immunohistochemical screening of tumors positive for ALK or ALK fusion proteins among pathologic archives.

TL;DR: The established transgenic mouse lines that express EML4-ALK specifically in lung alveolar epithelial cells reinforce the pivotal role of EML 4-ALK in the pathogenesis of NSCLC in humans and provide experimental support for the treatment of this intractable cancer with ALK inhibitors.

TL;DR: A multiplex reverse transcription-PCR system is developed that captures all in-frame fusions between EML4 to exon 20 of ALK to reinforce the importance of accurate diagnosis of E ML4-ALK–positive tumors for the optimization of treatment strategies.