18F-FDG PET/CT Reveals Disease Remission in a Patient With Ipilimumab-Refractory Advanced Melanoma Treated With Pembrolizumab

Clin Nucl Med. 2016 Feb;41(2):156-8. doi: 10.1097/RLU.0000000000001039.

Abstract

Pembrolizumab is an anti-programmed cell death receptor 1 (anti-PD-1) antibody, recently approved for the treatment of ipilimumab-refractory metastatic melanoma. We report on a 49-year-old patient with unresectable metastatic melanoma initially treated with 4 cycles of ipilimumab. Because of demonstration of progressive disease on PET/CT, the patient was enrolled into a clinical trial of pembrolizumab. After completion of 4 cycles of pembrolizumab, the follow-up PET/CT scans performed early after and 7 months after the end of treatment exhibited complete disease remission, reflecting the potential role of the modality in treatment response evaluation of melanoma patients receiving anti-PD-1 therapy.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / therapeutic use*
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / therapeutic use*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
  • Humans
  • Ipilimumab
  • Male
  • Melanoma / diagnostic imaging
  • Melanoma / drug therapy*
  • Melanoma / pathology
  • Middle Aged
  • Multimodal Imaging*
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • Positron-Emission Tomography*
  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Remission Induction
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Ipilimumab
  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
  • pembrolizumab