Long-term overall and relapse-free survival in a patient with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer treated with immunotherapy. A case report

Background. Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Most cases of newly diagnosed lung cancer are associated with distant metastasis. High incidence and mortality rates as well as high rates of recurrence in patients with stage I–III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), even after radical surgical treatment, determine the relevance of developing new approaches to drug therapy. The aim of the study was to demonstrate a successful clinical case showing a long-term, more than 8-year overall and relapse-free survival in a patient with metastatic NSCLC treated with an immune checkpoint inhibitor. Case presentation. An 80-year-old patient with stage IB lung adenocarcinoma underwent radical surgery in august 2014. A follow-up examination in April 2016 revealed disease progression (liver metastases and mediastinal lymph node metastases, and solitary metastasis to the chest wall on the right). Taking into account the absence of driver mutations, 102 cycles of durvalumab monotherapy were administered as a phase III multicenter open randomized trial. At a follow-up period of 96 months, no signs of disease progression and treatment-related serious adverse events were observed. Conclusion. Drug therapy of metastatic NSCLC remains challenging and should take into account the clinical, molecular, genetic, and immunohistochemical characteristics of the tumor. Further in-depth studies of new approaches and treatment options for NSCLC patients are required.

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