Introduction: C-ros oncogene 1 (ROS1) is the sole member of the ROS1 receptor tyrosine kinase (ROS1-RTK) family, which is involved in the formation of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), gastric adenocarcinoma, colorectal cancer, and other malignant tumors. At present, only crizotinib was approved for the treatment of advanced ROS1-positive NSCLC, and there have been reports of ROS1 mutations resulting in drug resistance. Consequently, it is necessary to develop new generations of inhibitors to overcome the existing problems.
Areas covered: This review summarizes the inhibitors with ROS1 inhibitory activity which are undergoing clinical trials and recent advances in patented ROS1 small molecular inhibitors from 2015 to 2021.
Expert opinion: ROS1 rearrangements have been found in approximately 1%-2% of patients with NSCLC. Since the approval of crizotinib as multi-targeted ALK/MET/ROS1 kinase inhibitor for ALK-mutated NSCLC therapy, the researchers are focusing on ROS1-mutated tumors, especially NSCLC. However, drug-resistant mutations have already been found in clinical application. Therefore, it is still urgent to develop new generation of ROS1 inhibitors.
Keywords: ROS1 kinase; cancer; patent review; small-molecule inhibitor.