PD-L1 pathway as a novel target in carcinosarcoma of the kidney and renal pelvis

Ashwin M Raghavan; Zane C Giffen; Patrick M Irwin; Hesham I Mostafa; Bradley J Buck

doi:10.1016/j.eucr.2020.101261

PD-L1 pathway as a novel target in carcinosarcoma of the kidney and renal pelvis

Urol Case Rep. 2020 May 23:33:101261. doi: 10.1016/j.eucr.2020.101261. eCollection 2020 Nov.

Authors

Ashwin M Raghavan¹, Zane C Giffen¹, Patrick M Irwin¹, Hesham I Mostafa², Bradley J Buck²

Affiliations

¹ University of Toledo Department of Urology and Renal Transplantation, Toledo, OH, United States.
² RoMIUS Institute of Northwest Ohio, Toledo, OH, United States.

Abstract

Carcinosarcoma of the kidney and renal pelvis (CSKP) is a rare and highly-aggressive malignancy characterized by rapid progression and widespread metastases. To date, few studies describe the natural history of the disease. We present a patient placed on pembrolizumab therapy for suspected metastatic colon cancer. The patient was found to have a right renal mass with caval extension on surveillance and ultimately underwent radical surgery revealing carcinosarcoma with positive PD-L1 expression with no evidence of recurrence to date. To our knowledge, this is the first case describing PD-L1 expression in CSKP and presents a novel pathway for future treatment algorithms.

Keywords: Carcinosarcoma; Immunotherapy; Oncology; Pembrolizumab; Radical nephrectomy.

Publication types

Case Reports