Camrelizumab plus zoledronic acid showed sustained efficacy in a patient with cranial and spinal metastases from lung adenocarcinoma

Abstract

The role of anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) antibody camrelizumab in brain metastases (BMs) from lung adenocarcinoma is uncertain. Herein, for the first time, we report the efficacy of camrelizumab in a patient with chemotherapy-refractory BMs from lung adenocarcinoma. A 49-year-old male non-smoker was admitted with cough and back pain. Primary lung adenocarcinoma with brain and spinal metastases was diagnosed. The specimen from CT-guided lung biopsy showed positive expression of PD-L1 (~20%). The BMs were enlarged after first-line intravenous pemetrexed/cisplatin and zoledronic acid; whereas second-line camrelizumab demonstrated impressive complete remission of the BMs. The intracranial progression-free survival and overall survival of the patient since immunotherapy were more than 12 months and 20 months, respectively. In addition, we searched PubMed for relevant studies from inception to May 2020, and a total of 23 reports enrolling 1187 patients also indicated the promising efficacy of immunotherapy for BMs from lung cancer. However, more and better evidence are still needed before a definite conclusion could be drawn.

Keywords

• programmed cell death protein-1 (pd-1)
• anti-pd-1 monoclonal antibody
• immune checkpoint inhibitors (icis)
• brain metastasis