ROS1/ROS

ROS1 encodes an orphan receptor tyrosine kinase and the only human member of the Sevenless (Sev) family. Its large extracellular region has degenerated compared with other receptor kinases and no ligand has been identified. ROS1 is transiently expressed during development in kidney, lung and nervous tissues, where it participates in epithelial differentiation and renal tubule morphogenesis. In disease, ROS1 is principally oncogenic through chromosomal fusions: CD74-ROS1 and numerous other partners generate constitutively active kinases in lung adenocarcinoma, glioblastoma, cholangiocarcinoma and inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors. Because the ROS1 kinase domain closely resembles ALK's, ALK/MET inhibitors such as crizotinib, entrectinib and lorlatinib achieve marked responses in ROS1-rearranged cancers, and ROS1 testing is standard in advanced lung cancer.