Open AccessRobust response of pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma to pembrolizumab and sequential radiotherapy: A case report
Author(s) -
Kim TaeHun,
Park Sun Hyo,
Hwang Ilseon,
Lee Jin Hee,
Kim Jin Hee,
Kim Hae Won,
Kim Hyun Jung
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
respirology case reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.304
H-Index - 9
ISSN - 2051-3380
DOI - 10.1002/rcr2.875
Subject(s) - pembrolizumab , medicine , anaplastic lymphoma kinase , lung cancer , epidermal growth factor receptor , oncology , radiation therapy , carcinoma , cancer research , immunotherapy , cancer , malignant pleural effusion
Pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma (PPC) is a rare type of non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a more aggressive clinical course and a worse outcome than other types of NSCLC. Pembrolizumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting programmed cell death‐1 (PD‐1), has been approved as the first‐line treatment for advanced NSCLC with robust PD‐L1 expression in at least 50% of tumour cells, without epidermal growth factor receptor gene (EGFR) mutations or anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene (ALK) rearrangement. Here, we report the case of an 81‐year‐old man with multiple comorbidities who was diagnosed with PPC and showed a robust response to pembrolizumab followed by radiation therapy without adverse effects. In the absence of randomized clinical trials for PPCs, our case report demonstrates the potential application of pembrolizumab and radiation therapy for the treatment of PPCs.