F1000Research (Dec 2019)

Case Report: Cetuximab and nivolumab use in advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma resistant to chemotherapy [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]

  • Alvise Sernicola,
  • Salvatore Lampitelli,
  • Federica Marraffa,
  • Patrizia Maddalena,
  • Sara Grassi,
  • Antonio Giovanni Richetta,
  • Stefano Calvieri

DOI
https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.19149.2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8

Abstract

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We present the case of a 60-year-old man with unresectable cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) of the sternal area, which was not amenable to radiation therapy (stage III, T3N0M0). The treatment history of this patient is remarkable as the disease had progressed through all lines of conventional therapy established in the literature. The patient was treated with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor cetuximab for 35 cycles and restaged after 12 months of therapy with a whole body CT scan, documenting stage IV disease (T3N2bM1). The use of cetuximab as a single agent was effective for a limited time and we decided to initiate combination therapy with cetuximab and nivolumab. Restaging after six months of this combination regimen documented stable disease.