Compared with squamous carcinomas, lung adenocarcinomas was associated with an increased rate of ALK rearrangements in Asians (OR = 3.64; 95% CI: 2.17–6.09; P<0.00001) with no heterogeneity (I2 = 0%) and publication bias (Nfs = 168.2), whereas this increase was not obvious in Caucasians (OR = 1.33; 95% CI: 0.48–3.68; P = 0.58; I2 = 0%) with evident publication bias (Nfs = −0.83) (Figure S8). Here, ALK is linked to squamous cell carcinoma.