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A 65-year-old woman was hospitalized with right-sided chest pain in May 2024. A biopsy of a right upper-lung lesion confirmed squamous cell lung cancer. The cancer was Stage III and was considered unresectable at diagnosis. Testing found an ALK rearrangement and high PD-L1 expression.
She started the targeted therapy ensartinib. A rash and liver-test changes led to a temporary dose adjustment, but she was able to continue treatment. After 12 weeks, the tumor had shrunk by 78%, a partial response that changed the treatment options available to her.
The cancer was reassessed as operable, and in August 2024 she underwent minimally invasive right upper lobectomy with lymph-node removal. Pathology found no remaining cancer cells in the lung tumor bed, lymph nodes, surgical margins, or bronchial stump, representing a complete pathologic response.
She continued ensartinib after surgery. Follow-up chest scans at 8 months and again at 15 months showed no recurrence.
This is a lay summary of an account first published by PMC / PubMed Central. Read the original in full
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