Despite these caveats, based on the data generated, we propose that thromboembolic events potentially reflect a previously unidentified subset of ROS1‐ and ALK‐rearranged NSCLC patients with a prothrombotic phenotype that confers a cancer cell survival advantage via a mechanism that is upstream of the targets of commonly used anticoagulants that therefore cannot be overcome by commonly used therapeutic anticoagulation. This evidence concerns the gene ALK and cancer.