Long-term survival of a patient with advanced lung cancer treated with targeted therapy and anti-PD-1 immunotherapy as multi-line therapy: A case report

Sep 24, 2026

Lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, and lung adenocarcinoma is a frequent non-small cell lung cancer subtype. Immunotherapy has become central for several solid tumors, including NSCLC. This case report describes an NSCLC patient after left superior lobectomy who failed multiple systemic regimens, yet achieved long-term survival with targeted therapy plus anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) immunotherapy, surviving for over four years after progression. The case supports effectiveness of targeted therapy and anti-PD-1 treatment despite drug resistance and progressive disease.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Lung cancer burden and NSCLC background

Targeted therapy and biomarker-driven inhibitors

Immune checkpoint inhibition and PD-1/PD-L1 strategies

Challenges with platinum chemotherapy and drug resistance

Case report results and long-term outcome

ONCOLOGY LETTERS 27: 32, 2024 Long‑term survival of a patient with advanced lung cancer treated with targeted therapy and anti‑PD‑1 immunotherapy as multi‑line therapy: A case report TIANHAO GUO 1‑3* , WENJIAN ZHU2,3* , SHUOQI ZHAO2,3* , WENLI QIU4 , YAN WU5 , XUAN LI5 , FEI KE6 and HAIBO CHENG2,3,5 1Institute of Health and Regimen, Jiangsu Open University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210036; 2Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Traditional Chinese Medicine Prevention and Treatment of Tumor; 3The First Clinical Medical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023; Departments of 4Radiology, 5Oncology and 6Pathology, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, P.R. China Received April 26, 2023; Accepted September 14, 2023 DOI: 10. 3892/ol.2023.14166 Abstract. Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer worldwide. Lung adenocarcinoma, a type of non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), is a common type of lung cancer. In recent years, immunotherapy has become the primary method of treatment for several solid cancers, including NSCLC. In the present study, the case of a patient with NSCLC following left superior lobectomy is reported. Different systemic therapies failed, such as a pemetrexed + carboplatin regimen, paclitaxel liposome + cisplatin and pembrolizumab, and albumin‑bound paclitaxel + toripalimab, but long‑term survival was achieved following targeted therapy and anti‑programmed cell death protein‑1 (PD‑1) immunotherapy. The patient survived for >4 years following lung cancer progression, which is notably longer than expected for patients with advanced lung cancer. In conclusion, the present case demonstrated the efficacy of targeted therapy and anti‑PD‑1 immunotherapy for the treat‑ ment of advanced lung cancer following the occurrence of drug resistance and progressive disease. Introduction Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer worldwide with an incidence rate of 11.4% and has a high mortality rate (number of deaths per year, 1,796,144) (1) . Lung adenocar‑ cinoma, a type of non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), is a Correspondence to: Professor Haibo Cheng, The First Clinical Medical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, P.R. China E‑[mail: haibocheng@njucm.edu.cn](mail: haibocheng@njucm.edu.cn) *Contributed equally Key words: non‑small lung cancer, advanced lung cancer, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, anti‑programmed cell death protein‑1 common type of lung cancer (40 to 55% of total lung cancer cases) (2) . The risk factors for the disease include long‑term smoking, cooking fumes, air pollution and genetic factors. Targeted therapy is based on the application of selective inhibitors and biomolecules, which can impair the growth of lung cancer cells via interference with specific targeted recep‑ tors or other downstream proteins, including epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), ROS proto‑oncogene 1 (ROS1), kirsten rat sarcoma viral onco‑ gene (KRAS), v‑raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B (BRAF), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER‑2) (3) . Targeted therapy, including tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)‑based therapy, has been reported to improve the overall survival (OS) and quality of life of patients with NSCLC who have mutations (4) . A meta‑analysis of existing data reported that the EGFR single nucleotide polymorphisms rs712829 (‑216g>T) and rs11568315 (CA repeat) significantly affected OS and progression‑free survival (PFS) in patients with NSCLC who were treated with the TKIs gefitinib or erlo‑ tinib (4) . However, another study reported that patients who were carriers of the long CA repeat (SL+LL) were more likely to experience skin toxicity associated with TKIs (5) . Targeted immunotherapy promotes the activation of the immune system against lung cancer cells (3) . In contrast to non‑immune checkpoint

FAQs

What treatment approach led to long-term survival in this advanced lung cancer case?

The patient achieved long-term survival after targeted therapy combined with anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) immunotherapy, despite earlier failures of multiple systemic treatments.

Which systemic therapies failed before targeted therapy and anti-PD-1 immunotherapy?

Failed regimens included pemetrexed plus carboplatin, paclitaxel liposome plus cisplatin, pembrolizumab, and albumin-bound paclitaxel plus toripalimab.

How much longer did the patient survive compared with expectations?

The patient survived for more than four years after lung cancer progression, notably longer than expected for advanced lung cancer.

Sep 24, 2026

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