Patients with lung adenocarcinomas had a significantly higher rate of ALK rearrangements (449/6200; 7.2%) than patients with non-adenocarcinoma (54/2724; 2.0%) (OR = 2.25; 95% CI: 1.54–3.27; P<0.0001; I2 = 26%). Here, ALK is linked to adenocarcinoma.