ALK and non-small cell lung carcinoma: The current standard of care for both advanced SCLC and NSCLC patients consists in platinum-based combination chemotherapy (7, 8) but the identification of activating mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene and the presence of an anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangement in sub-groups of NSCLC have improved the clinical outcome of these patients by treatment with specific tyrosine kinase inhibitors (i.e., gefitinib, erlotinib, afatinib) and ALK inhibitors (crizotinib, ceritinib), compared with conventional chemotherapy alone (9–12).