While non-smoking associated lung cancers have experienced a renaissance of sorts in effective targeted therapies with the advent of therapeutics specific for certain molecular signatures such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and ALK inhibitors 4, 5, smoking related lung cancers lack specific druggable targets and remain difficult to treat despite the preponderance of lung cancers related to cigarette smoking. The gene discussed is ALK; the disease is lung carcinoma.