Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34094904›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in oncology2021

Case Report: Transformation From Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer to Small Cell Lung Cancer During Anti-PD-1 Therapy: A Report of Two Cases.

Qian Shen, Jingjing Qu, Lingyan Sheng, Qiqi Gao, Jianying Zhou

Open access · goldAbstract readCase Reports
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in oncology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  11. Expression ofJournal of thoracic disease · 2023
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  14. Pennogenin-3-Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Qian ShenDepartment of Respiratory Disease, Thoracic Disease Centre, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Jingjing QuDepartment of Respiratory Disease, Thoracic Disease Centre, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Lingyan ShengDepartment of Respiratory Disease, Thoracic Disease Centre, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Qiqi GaoDepartment of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Jianying ZhouDepartment of Respiratory Disease, Thoracic Disease Centre, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Zhejiang University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHistological transformation of lung cancer to small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is uncommon. It is a small subset of the possible resistance mechanisms, even in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated non-small cell lung cancer treated with EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Reports on programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) inhibitors are rare. We report two cases of lung squamous carcinomas that transformed to SCLC during anti-PD-1 therapy, and present a detailed description of histological examination of the pre-and post-transformation tissues, hitherto absent from reports on the topic. CASE PRESENTATION: Case 1: A 69-year-old man was diagnosed with stage IVa squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. He had a programmed cell death-ligand 1 tumor proportion score ≥50%. He achieved partial response after four cycles of sintilimab as first-line treatment. However, sintilimab was discontinued because of severe decrease in hemoglobin levels and platelet counts. Moreover, the occurrence of pleural effusion favored disease progression. Interestingly, bone marrow puncture and biopsy showed transformation to SCLC. Case 2: A 71-year-old man diagnosed with stage IIIa lung squamous cell carcinoma received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, underwent radical surgery, and finally received adjuvant chemotherapy. Five months later, he presented with tumor recurrence. He was treated with nivolumab, though disease progression was observed after four cycles. Notably, a subsequent computed tomography-guided biopsy showed SCLC.

conclusionPhenotypic transformation to SCLC is a potential mechanism of resistance to immunotherapy in squamous cell carcinomas of the lung. Disease progression should prompt re-biopsy to diagnose potential histological changes to assess the requirement for change in treatment.

Indexed as

lung squamous cell carcinomasPD-1 inhibitorsresistantsmall-cell lung cancertransformation

Identifiers

PMID34094904
PMCPMC8176117
OpenAlexW3162836953

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.