Poorly Differentiated Lung Adenocarcinoma Recurring After Surgery and Chemotherapy
This lung cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Subtype
- Adenocarcinoma
- Biomarkers
- No driver mutation identified initially; recurrent tumor PD-L1 >50%
- Sex
- male
- Treatment
- surgery, chemotherapy and immunotherapy
- Outcome
- Setback / Progression
Treatment course, step by step
- Underwent left upper-lung wedge resection with lymph-node dissection in July 2023.
- Received 4 cycles of carboplatin and pemetrexed after surgery.
- After recurrence about 11 months later, started camrelizumab but could not tolerate it and declined further treatment.
What happened, in summary
A 66-year-old man was found to have several lung nodules during a routine check-up in July 2023. Surgery removed a tumor from the left upper lung together with nearby lymph nodes. Pathology showed poorly differentiated lung adenocarcinoma with invasion of the visceral pleura but no lymph-node metastasis. Testing did not identify a driver mutation.
One month later, he began 4 cycles of carboplatin and pemetrexed chemotherapy. No recurrence was seen during treatment. In June 2024, about 11 months after surgery, he returned with upper abdominal pain. Imaging showed a new mass near the aortic arch and enlarged lymph nodes in the mediastinum and both supraclavicular areas. Biopsy confirmed recurrent poorly differentiated carcinoma.
Testing of the recurrent cancer showed PD-L1 expression above 50% along with several acquired genomic alterations. Camrelizumab immunotherapy was started as second-line treatment. He was unable to tolerate the therapy and ultimately declined additional anticancer treatment. His course illustrates a rapid recurrence after surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy in a rare, poorly differentiated lung adenocarcinoma with SMARCA2 loss.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by PMC / PubMed Central. Read the original in full
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Collections this story belongs to
- Carboplatin for Lung Cancer 168 stories
These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team. Read the full disclaimer