Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy-Based Systemic Treatment in MMR-Deficient or MSI-High Rectal Cancer: Case Series

J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2020 Jul;18(7):798-804. doi: 10.6004/jnccn.2020.7558.

Abstract

Treatment options for locally advanced rectal cancer have continued to consist largely of chemotherapy, chemoradiation, and/or surgical resection. For patients who are unable to undergo these therapeutic modalities or who do not to experience a response to them, treatment options are limited. We report 3 cases of mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the rectum that showed significant response with neoadjuvant immunotherapy-based systemic treatment. The first patient was not eligible for standard therapy because of a history of radiotherapy to the prostate with concurrent comorbidities and therefore received single-agent pembrolizumab. The second patient did not respond to total neoadjuvant chemoradiation and subsequently received combined nivolumab and ipilimumab. The third patient had a known family history of Lynch syndrome and presented with locally advanced rectal cancer and a baseline carcinoembryonic antigen level of 1,566 ng/mL. She was treated using neoadjuvant pembrolizumab and FOLFOX (folinic acid, fluorouracil, oxaliplatin). In this small series, we suggest that single-agent and combined-modality neoadjuvant immunotherapy/chemotherapy appear to be safe and effective treatment options for patients with (dMMR) locally advanced rectal cancer. Our findings encourage further studies to investigate the role of neoadjuvant immunotherapy as a viable treatment strategy in this population.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / therapeutic use
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
  • Brain Neoplasms
  • Chemoradiotherapy
  • Colorectal Neoplasms
  • Female
  • Fluorouracil
  • Humans
  • Immunotherapy
  • Ipilimumab / therapeutic use
  • Leucovorin
  • Male
  • Neoadjuvant Therapy*
  • Neoplastic Syndromes, Hereditary
  • Nivolumab / therapeutic use
  • Organoplatinum Compounds
  • Rectal Neoplasms* / therapy

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
  • Ipilimumab
  • Organoplatinum Compounds
  • Nivolumab
  • pembrolizumab
  • Leucovorin
  • Fluorouracil

Supplementary concepts

  • Folfox protocol
  • Turcot syndrome