Sarcomatoid Lung Carcinoma Successfully Treated With Combined Cytotoxic Chemotherapy and Anti-Programmed Death-Ligand 1 (Anti-PD-L1) Antibodies

TL;DR

A rare aggressive lung cancer was successfully treated with a combination of chemotherapy and an anti-PD-L1 antibody, showing promising results.

Contribution

Demonstrates successful treatment of sarcomatoid lung carcinoma using combined chemotherapy and anti-PD-L1 therapy.

Findings

The patient showed a significant partial response after four cycles of combined atezolizumab, carboplatin, and paclitaxel.

The treatment led to marked shrinkage of both primary and metastatic tumor lesions.

The case suggests that combining anti-PD-L1 antibodies with chemotherapy is effective for this aggressive cancer.

Abstract

Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma is a rare, aggressive subtype of non-small-cell lung cancer with a poor prognosis and no established standard therapy for advanced disease. We report the case of a 68-year-old man with stage IVB pleomorphic carcinoma whose tumor expressed programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) with a tumor proportion score of 25%. The patient received four cycles of first-line therapy combining atezolizumab with carboplatin and paclitaxel. This treatment resulted in a significant partial response, with marked shrinkage of the primary tumor and metastatic lesions. This case suggests that the combination of an anti-PD-L1 antibody and platinum-based chemotherapy is a promising and effective therapeutic strategy for this challenging malignancy.

Figures