BACKGROUND Few studies have addressed the efficacy of pembrolizumab in pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma(PSC),a rare,previously rapidly fatal subtype of nonsmall-cell lung cancer.CASE SUMMARY We report the case of a 69-...BACKGROUND Few studies have addressed the efficacy of pembrolizumab in pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma(PSC),a rare,previously rapidly fatal subtype of nonsmall-cell lung cancer.CASE SUMMARY We report the case of a 69-year-old man presented with respiratory distress caused by a large left upper lung lobe mass diagnosed as PSC with programmed death-ligand 1 expressed on more than 50 percent of tumor cells.The patient was started on pembrolizumab and,after 5 cycles,there was a more than 80 percent decrease in the size of the tumor mass.Further decrease was seen at the end of 10 cycles.The patient has been tolerating pembrolizumab well,with no limiting side-effects.Fourteen months after first coming into the hospital,he remains asymptomatic.CONCLUSION Pembrolizumab appears as a viable emerging treatment for PSC.展开更多
BACKGROUND Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma(PSC),a rare subtype of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC),is poorly differentiated and highly aggressive.Treatment is limited,and the prognosis is poor.Pembrolizumab is an ant...BACKGROUND Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma(PSC),a rare subtype of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC),is poorly differentiated and highly aggressive.Treatment is limited,and the prognosis is poor.Pembrolizumab is an anti-programmed death(PD)-1 antibody with good efficacy in NSCLC.Recent studies have demonstrated that PD-ligand 1(PD-L1)overexpression is common in PSCs,which suggests that anti-PD-L1 treatment is an ideal option.However,the response to pembrolizumab in PSC has not been studied.CASE SUMMARY We present a PSC case with PD-L1 overexpression that significantly benefited from pembrolizumab.A 73-year-old Chinese male was detected with a right lung lesion.Pathological analysis of the right upper lobectomy confirmed PSC.The PDL1 test revealed overexpression(TPS:90%).Multiple metastases occurred 1 mo after surgery,representing stage IV PSC.Neither first-line chemotherapy nor second-line antiangiogenic agents showed any benefit.Radiotherapy(1200 cGy)was administered to relieve chest wall pain.The patient received the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab(100 mg)as third-line therapy;however,because of fever and severe infection,he refused to receive immunotherapy any longer.Thus,only one dose of pembrolizumab was administered.Deep sustained remission of most of the metastases was achieved except for lesions in the right adrenal gland,which first shrank and then progressed.The patient died because of disease progression in the right adrenal gland.He achieved a progression-free survival time of 8 mo and an overall survival time of 9 mo with third-line pembrolizumab.CONCLUSION Our findings highlight and offer direct evidence of the efficacy of pembrolizumab in PD-L1-overexpressing PSCs.Combined radiotherapy and immunotherapy may enhance treatment efficacy.展开更多
文摘BACKGROUND Few studies have addressed the efficacy of pembrolizumab in pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma(PSC),a rare,previously rapidly fatal subtype of nonsmall-cell lung cancer.CASE SUMMARY We report the case of a 69-year-old man presented with respiratory distress caused by a large left upper lung lobe mass diagnosed as PSC with programmed death-ligand 1 expressed on more than 50 percent of tumor cells.The patient was started on pembrolizumab and,after 5 cycles,there was a more than 80 percent decrease in the size of the tumor mass.Further decrease was seen at the end of 10 cycles.The patient has been tolerating pembrolizumab well,with no limiting side-effects.Fourteen months after first coming into the hospital,he remains asymptomatic.CONCLUSION Pembrolizumab appears as a viable emerging treatment for PSC.
文摘BACKGROUND Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma(PSC),a rare subtype of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC),is poorly differentiated and highly aggressive.Treatment is limited,and the prognosis is poor.Pembrolizumab is an anti-programmed death(PD)-1 antibody with good efficacy in NSCLC.Recent studies have demonstrated that PD-ligand 1(PD-L1)overexpression is common in PSCs,which suggests that anti-PD-L1 treatment is an ideal option.However,the response to pembrolizumab in PSC has not been studied.CASE SUMMARY We present a PSC case with PD-L1 overexpression that significantly benefited from pembrolizumab.A 73-year-old Chinese male was detected with a right lung lesion.Pathological analysis of the right upper lobectomy confirmed PSC.The PDL1 test revealed overexpression(TPS:90%).Multiple metastases occurred 1 mo after surgery,representing stage IV PSC.Neither first-line chemotherapy nor second-line antiangiogenic agents showed any benefit.Radiotherapy(1200 cGy)was administered to relieve chest wall pain.The patient received the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab(100 mg)as third-line therapy;however,because of fever and severe infection,he refused to receive immunotherapy any longer.Thus,only one dose of pembrolizumab was administered.Deep sustained remission of most of the metastases was achieved except for lesions in the right adrenal gland,which first shrank and then progressed.The patient died because of disease progression in the right adrenal gland.He achieved a progression-free survival time of 8 mo and an overall survival time of 9 mo with third-line pembrolizumab.CONCLUSION Our findings highlight and offer direct evidence of the efficacy of pembrolizumab in PD-L1-overexpressing PSCs.Combined radiotherapy and immunotherapy may enhance treatment efficacy.
