Targeting PD-L1 After Adjuvant Radiation in Subtotally Resected Primary Pineal Melanoma: A Case Report and Literature Review
Search for other papers by Justin Famoso in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Gerald Lemole in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Srinath Sundararajan in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Baldassarre Stea in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Primary melanoma of the pineal gland is a rare disease entity with an overall poor prognosis. Limited data exist to appropriately guide treatment decisions. Historical case reports have showed some success using a combination of surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, but long-term survival has been exceedingly rare. This report presents a female patient with a primary pineal melanoma who underwent subtotal resection followed by adjuvant focal radiation to the residual tumor. Immunohistochemistry identified a strong positivity for PD-L1 (70%). After radiation, systemic therapy with pembrolizumab was initiated with the plan to treat until progression. She has now completed 33 cycles of pembrolizumab without interruptions, complications, or disease progression. At the time of writing, the patient has had an excellent clinical outcome, with a durable near-complete response of >138 weeks. To our knowledge, this is the first patient with a pineal melanoma to be managed by targeting PD-L1. Furthermore, she has achieved the second longest overall survival and the longest progression-free survival reported in the literature.
Submitted March 25, 2019; accepted for publication June 25, 2019.
Disclosures: The authors have disclosed that they have not received any financial considerations from any person or organization to support the preparation, analysis, results, or discussion of this article.
© 2019-2023 National Comprehensive Cancer Network