Complete resection after pembrolizumab treatment followed by salvage surgery in stage IVB endometrial cancer: A case report

INTRODUCTION: There is little evidence regarding the treatment of stage IVB endometrial cancer. Therefore, chemotherapy is more likely to be chosen as the initial and first-line treatment. Pembrolizumab is a new treatment choice for unresectable endometrial cancer after first-line chemotherapy failure. PRESENTATION OF CASE: Herein, we report the case of a 56-year-old patient diagnosed with stage IVB endometrial cancer. After eight cycles of first-line chemotherapy, computed tomography (CT) revealed relapse with re-enlargement of the para-aortic lymph nodes. Since the primary tumour had high microsatellite instability, we switched to pembrolizumab treatment. Pembrolizumab was effective but could not be continued due to adverse events after 10 cycles. Positron emission tomography-CT revealed active cancer in the uterus and para-aortic lymph nodes. DISCUSSION: Since pembrolizumab treatment had to be discontinued, we performed salvage surgery, which achieved complete tumour removal, and the patient has had no evidence of disease for 16 months. CONCLUSION: This is the first case of complete surgical resection after administering pembrolizumab as a second-line treatment for advanced endometrial cancer.