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Soo Park, MD
Soo Park, MD
Posted: Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Published in Case Reports in Oncology, Sara Cerqueira Cabral, MD, of Instituto Português de Oncologia de Lisboa Francisco Gentil, and colleagues reported on a case of two locally advanced, unresectable, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma lesions that were treated with anti–PD-1 monoclonal antibody cemiplimab-rwlc. According to the authors, this case presentation “illustrates the efficacy of the use of cemiplimab as preoperative therapy in advanced unresectable cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, facilitating a definitive surgical treatment.”
An 84-year-old man presented with two fast-growing lesions—one on the retroauricular left region (40 mm) and another on the nasolabial right region (50 mm)—which were diagnosed as cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma via fine-needle aspiration cytology. The patient had a history of several basal cell and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma lesions; they were excised and treated with adjuvant radiotherapy in 2013; two cervical cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma lesions were excised in 2020. Additionally, he had comorbidities such as diabetes, hyperuricemia, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and a pacemaker.
A 57 × 54 × 16 mm nasolabial and a 40 × 16 × 46 mm retroauricular lesion were identified using a head and neck CT, and they grew to 60 mm and 70 mm after 3 weeks, respectively. Upfront resection was deemed inappropriate because of the localization and extension of the lesions and would likely compromise the patient’s eye, nose, and mouth function. Therefore, cemiplimab was initiated.
The patient underwent four cycles of 350 mg of cemiplimab every 3 weeks. Therapy was generally well tolerated, with the only reported toxicity being generalized pruritus, which was ultimately controlled with the antihistamine medication bilastine. A complete response of the retroauricular lesion and a partial response of the nasolabial lesion were observed after four treatment cycles, supporting the potential for surgery on the nasolabial region.
Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
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