ALK protein expression in pulmonary adenocarcinoma of Tunisian patients.

BACKGROUND:It is now necessary to determine ALK status in order to use targeted therapy. AIM:herein, we assess immunohistochemical profile of ALK protein in a series of Tunisian patients with pulmonary adenocarcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS:ALK protein expression was studied applying the D5F3 antibody with a fully automated Ventana CDx technique on a series of 19 patients. RESULTS:Positive ALK expression was found in one case (5.2%) corresponding to a papillary adenocarcinoma which showed a strong granular and homogenous cytoplasmic staining. The patient was a 30-years-old woman. CONCLUSION:The frequency of positive ALK expression based on immunohistochemistry in our series was similar to that reported in the world literature.