Pathological complete response to radical surgery after receiving durvalumab plus neoadjuvant chemotherapy for 1 limited-stage small cell lung cancer patient: a case report

BACKGROUND: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is clinically the most aggressive subtype of lung cancer, and accounts for about 15% of all newly diagnosed lung cancer cases. Approximately 1/3 of SCLC patients are diagnosed with limited-stage SCLC (LS-SCLC). The standard of treatment for most patients with LS-SCLC is concurrent chemoradiotherapy. LS-SCLC is sensitive to first-line therapy, but has a high recurrence rate and patients show a poor response to second-line treatment. Referring to extensive-stage SCLC (ES-SCLC), durvalumab plus platinum-etoposide chemotherapy has been approved by the Food Drug Administration and National Medical Products Administration. It is hoped that durvalumab will produce good results for LS-SCLC patients. CASE DESCRIPTION: In this article, we report the case of a 75-year-old male patient with LS-SCLC of the left lung (tumor, node metastasis stage cT3N0M0 IIB) who received 2 cycles durvalumab plus neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The neoadjuvant therapy was favorable and no adverse events were observed. The assessment of the tumor via Resist1.1 by videography indicated a complete response. Then a thoracoscopic resection of the left lower lobe of the lung was performed under general anesthesia. The operation was successful, and the patient’s postoperative recovery was good. Fortunately, the postoperative pathology results showed pathological complete response. After the surgery, the patient received 3 cycles of adjuvant therapy. Now, the patient is still alive and there is no sign of tumor recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: This case highlights the benefits of neoadjuvant programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor plus chemotherapy and radical surgery for patients with LS-SCLC and identifies a significant treatment option for LS-SCLC patients.