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Case Reports
. 2023 Nov 21;15(11):e49198.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.49198. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Complete Response to Cetuximab Plus Paclitaxel Therapy in Nivolumab-Refractory Patients in Distant Metastasis of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Tongue: A Report of Two Cases

Hidetake Tachinami  1 , Kei Tomihara  2 , Danki Takatsuka  1 , Atsushi Ikeda  1 , Shin-Ichi Yamada  1 , Makoto Noguchi  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Complete Response to Cetuximab Plus Paclitaxel Therapy in Nivolumab-Refractory Patients in Distant Metastasis of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Tongue: A Report of Two Cases

Hidetake Tachinami et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Herein, we report two cases of patients diagnosed with nivolumab-refractory distant metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue who were successfully treated with a combination of paclitaxel and cetuximab. Case 1 had controllable local recurrence and distant metastasis. Case 2 had controllable distant metastatic disease. Thus, demonstrating that some nivolumab-refractory patients with recurrent or distant metastatic oral squamous cell carcinoma may benefit from subsequent salvage chemotherapy.

Keywords: case report; cetuximab; distant metastatic oral squamous cell carcinoma; nivolumab-refractory; paclitaxel.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Radiological findings of the tumor in Case 1 before nivolumab administration.
Findings before nivolumab administration. Computed tomography (CT; left) revealed a swelling in the left submandibular region (A, B), pale ring-shaped nodular shadows in both the lung fields (C, D), and osteolytic changes in the left iliac bone (E). Fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET; right) revealed an abnormal accumulation in the left iliac bone (F).
Figure 2
Figure 2. Radiological findings of the tumor in Case 1 after nivolumab administration.
Findings after 10 courses of nivolumab administration. Contrast-enhanced CT and FDG-PET revealed enlargement of each target lesion, indicating progressive disease (A-F).
Figure 3
Figure 3. Radiological findings of the tumor in Case 1 after salvage chemotherapy.
After 16 courses of salvage chemotherapy, all target lesions almost disappeared, indicating a complete response (A-F). As suggested, we have improved.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Radiological findings of the tumor in Case 2 before nivolumab administration.
Findings before nivolumab administration. Computed tomography (CT; A) and fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET; B) revealed multiple cavernous nodules in the right lung field.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Radiological findings of the tumor in Case 2 after nivolumab administration.
After nine courses of nivolumab, contrast-enhanced CT revealed an increase in the size of the target lesion and a new low-density nodule in the left lateral lobe of the liver.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Radiological findings of the tumor in Case 2 after salvage chemotherapy.
After 19 courses ofsalvage chemotherapy, all target lesions almost disappeared, which indicated a complete response (A-C).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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