Rapid disease progression in patient with mismatch-repair deficiency pituitary ACTH-secreting adenoma treated with checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab

Anticancer Drugs. 2020 Feb;31(2):199-204. doi: 10.1097/CAD.0000000000000856.

Abstract

Secreting pituitary adenomas are tumors for which few treatment options are available, including surgical treatment and management of hormonal imbalance due to altered pituitary secretion. In case of inoperable relapse, radiotherapy or chemotherapeutic treatment can be considered; the effectiveness of these treatments, however, remains limited. In the immunotherapy era, it is necessary to select patients who can benefit from immunotherapeutic treatment. Mismatch repair deficiency is strongly associated with responsiveness to anti-PD-1 in other cancers and can be detected using immunohistochemistry for MLH1, MSH2, MHS6, and PMS2. In this case report, we report a case of rapid disease progression to pembrolizumab in a patient with a MMRd pituitary adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-secreting adenoma. For the best of our knowledge, we described for the first time, a poor efficacy of pembrolizumab in a patient with ACTH-secreting pituitary adenoma having mismatch repair deficiency probably caused by high levels of cortisol in this patient. Prospective study should be performed to assess the activity of immune checkpoint inhibitor alone or in association with temozolomide in this subsetting of pituitary adenomas.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • ACTH-Secreting Pituitary Adenoma / drug therapy
  • ACTH-Secreting Pituitary Adenoma / genetics
  • ACTH-Secreting Pituitary Adenoma / pathology*
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / administration & dosage*
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / adverse effects
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological / administration & dosage*
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological / adverse effects
  • Brain Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Brain Neoplasms / genetics
  • Brain Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / genetics
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / pathology*
  • DNA Mismatch Repair*
  • Disease Progression
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplastic Syndromes, Hereditary / drug therapy
  • Neoplastic Syndromes, Hereditary / genetics
  • Neoplastic Syndromes, Hereditary / pathology*
  • Prognosis

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological
  • pembrolizumab

Supplementary concepts

  • Turcot syndrome