Objective To explore the characteristics of ALK fusion gene in patients with primary lung adenocarcinoma in Gannan region, with hopes of scientifically guiding such patients towards selecting targeted drugs.

Methods 5′/3′ imbalance strategy for qRT-PCR was used to detect the expression of ALK fusion gene in 233 cases of primary pulmonary adenocarcinoma and the clinical pathological characteristics were analyzed.

Results The expression rate of ALK fusion genes was 9.01% (21/233). The expression rate of ALK fusion gene in female and N1-3 patients was significantly higher than that in male and N0 patients (P < 0.05); The expression rate of ALK fusion gene in patients with no smoking history, age < 55 years, M1 stage and fresh biopsy specimens was relatively high (P > 0.05); The expression of ALK fusion gene was not correlated with TNM stage, T stage, surgical treatment or tumor distribution location (P > 0.05). Moreover, in the subgroup analysis of 153 M1-stage cases, no correlation was found between the expression of ALK fusion gene and the metastasis of common sites of lung cancer (bone, brain, opposite lung, pleural dissemination adrenal glands and liver) (P > 0.05).

Conclusion The expression rate of ALK fusion gene in primary lung adenocarcinoma in Gannan region is relatively high, which is common in female patients with lymph node metastasis.