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An 84-year-old Japanese woman was diagnosed with Stage IV lung adenocarcinoma after an abnormal chest image led to further testing. The cancer had already spread to the sacrum and several areas of the brain. Tumor testing found a RET fusion, giving her a targeted treatment option.
She started selpercatinib. Within the first weeks, she developed fever and a severe rash, so treatment was stopped and later restarted at a lower dose. Soon after restarting, she developed painful inflammation of the gallbladder without gallstones. Her symptoms improved when selpercatinib was stopped.
She wanted to try treatment again, but the gallbladder inflammation returned along with other serious side effects. Selpercatinib was then permanently discontinued. Despite receiving the drug for less than 30 days in total, scans showed early shrinkage of the lung tumor and brain metastases.
Because no further dose reduction was possible, her care shifted to supportive treatment and she was transferred to another facility.
This is a lay summary of an account first published by PMC / PubMed Central. Read the original in full
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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