Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2021 Mar 24;9(5):e03973.
doi: 10.1002/ccr3.3973. eCollection 2021 May.

Dissociated response related to corticosteroids in lung cancer treated by immunotherapy: A case report

Affiliations
Case Reports

Dissociated response related to corticosteroids in lung cancer treated by immunotherapy: A case report

Quentin Dominique Thomas et al. Clin Case Rep. .

Abstract

We report the case of a patient with a complete metastatic adrenal response on Pembrolizumab for metastatic lung cancer. Treatment with a systemic corticosteroid-induced a time-dependent progression at his metastatic site. Surprisingly, after stopping the corticosteroid, we observed a new complete response in long-term adrenal metastases.

Keywords: case reports; immunotherapy; lung neoplasms; programmed cell death 1 receptor; tumor escape.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Evaluation of disease progression by CT scan at (A) Baseline scan before treatment with Pembrolizumab, (B) After 6 injections of Pembrolizumab, (C) After 22 injections of Pembrolizumab and the recent corticosteroid therapy, (D) After 24 injections of Pembrolizumab. Red arrows show the left adrenal gland
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Maculopapular rash of the legs
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Changes of the adrenal gland metastasis status over time. Cn, number of Pembrolizumab injections; M, month after NSCLC diagnosis. Blue rectangles depict the corticosteroid schedule

Similar articles

References

    1. Hanahan D, Weinberg RA. Hallmarks of cancer: the next generation. Cell. 2011;144(5):646‐674. - PubMed
    1. Pardoll DM. The blockade of immune checkpoints in cancer immunotherapy. Nat Rev Cancer. 2012;12(4):252‐264. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Reck M, Rodríguez‐Abreu D, Robinson AG, et al. Pembrolizumab versus chemotherapy for PD‐L1‐positive non‐small‐cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2016;375(19):1823‐1833. - PubMed
    1. Gandhi L, Rodríguez‐Abreu D, Gadgeel S, et al. Pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy in metastatic non‐small‐cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2018;378(22):2078‐2092. - PubMed
    1. Garant A, Guilbault C, Ekmekjian T, Greenwald Z, Murgoi P, Vuong T. Concomitant use of corticosteroids and immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with hematologic or solid neoplasms: a systematic review. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2017;120:86‐92. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources