Lung erosion following adjuvant immunotherapy with pembrolizumab: a case report

Background Pembrolizumab as immunotherapy is increasingly used in adjuvant, neoadjuvant, and standalone therapy and has been described as safe. We share an experience of lung erosion post-thoracic surgery with the use of adjuvant pembrolizumab. Case presentation A 65-year-old Chinese gentleman with...

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Published inJournal of medical case reports Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 1 - 420
Main Authors Leow, Lowell, Anbudurai, Manisha, Yue, Li, Tam, John Kit Chung
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London BioMed Central Ltd 07.10.2023
BioMed Central
BMC
Subjects
Adjuvant therapy
Adjuvant treatment
Adjuvants
Cancer
Cancer therapies
Case Report
Case reports
Drug dosages
Fistula
Histology
Immunotherapy
Kidney cancer
Ligands
Lung cancer
Lung surgery
Metastasis
Ostomy
Patients
Pembrolizumab
Pneumothorax
Surgery
Toxicity
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Summary:Background Pembrolizumab as immunotherapy is increasingly used in adjuvant, neoadjuvant, and standalone therapy and has been described as safe. We share an experience of lung erosion post-thoracic surgery with the use of adjuvant pembrolizumab. Case presentation A 65-year-old Chinese gentleman with metastatic renal cell carcinoma underwent lung metastasis resection and presented with delayed onset pneumothorax while on adjuvant pembrolizumab. Failure of conservative management warranted repeat surgical intervention, and intraoperative findings showed erosion of staple lines possibly caused by poor healing associated with pembrolizumab. Conclusion Adjuvant pembrolizumab may impair wound healing, including stapler line healing. Presentation of delayed pneumothorax in a post-surgical patient undergoing immunotherapy should warrant early surgical intervention. Keywords: Pembrolizumab, Adjuvant therapy, Lung surgery, Lung cancer, Case report
Bibliography:ObjectType-Case Study-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-4
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ObjectType-Report-1
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ISSN:1752-1947
1752-1947
DOI:10.1186/s13256-023-04162-y