Patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive (ALK+) anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) respond well to anthracycline-based conventional chemotherapy, with overall response rate of 90%, and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates of 70%-90%. But relapse or refractory patients have a dismal outcome. Crizotinib, an ALK targeted inhibitor, provides the possibility of controlling and curing of ALK+ALCL due to obvious therapeutic effect and slight adverse reactions, and could be used as a bridging strategy and maintenance with hematopoietic stem cells transplantation (HSCT). But the possibility of recurrence after interrupting treatment should be wary. Although crizotinib represents significance in ALK+ALCL, the drug resistance limits its clinical application. In the future, whether crizotinib can be used as the first-line treatment for ALK+ALCL with a single drug or in combination with other drugs requires further clinical research to support.
