Stage III Pulmonary Sarcomatoid Carcinoma With Major Response and No Recurrence
This lung cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Stage at diagnosis
- Stage III
- Biomarkers
- NRAS mutation; TP53 mutation; PD-L1 TPS 60%
- Sex
- male
- Treatment
- chemotherapy, immunotherapy and surgery
- Outcome
- Cancer-Free / NED
Treatment course, step by step
- Received 4 cycles of tislelizumab with albumin-bound paclitaxel and cisplatin, producing a partial response.
- Underwent right upper lobectomy with systematic lymph-node dissection and had about 10% residual tumor.
- Received 13 cycles of immunotherapy after surgery.
What happened, in summary
A 56-year-old man sought care in March 2022 after 3 months of persistent dry cough. CT showed a very large tumor in the right upper lung together with enlarged hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes. Biopsy showed a malignant spindle-cell tumor consistent with pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma. The cancer was Stage III.
Tumor testing found NRAS and TP53 mutations, and PD-L1 expression was high at 60%. He received 4 cycles of tislelizumab combined with albumin-bound paclitaxel and cisplatin. Follow-up imaging showed substantial shrinkage of both the lung tumor and lymph nodes, representing a partial response.
In July 2022, he underwent right upper lobectomy with systematic lymph-node dissection. Pathology showed a major response to treatment, with only about 10% residual tumor and no active cancer found in the sampled lymph nodes.
He continued immunotherapy for 13 cycles after surgery. During follow-up, no recurrence was detected for more than 27 months. His course illustrates a strong response to neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy despite the aggressive histology of pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma.
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
- Stage 3 Lung Cancer 77 stories
- TP53 Mutation Lung Cancer 19 stories
- Chemotherapy for Lung Cancer 386 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