We present the case of a 64-year-old patient with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, who experienced disease progression despite undergoing multiple lines of systemic therapy, including immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). Two months after stereotactic radiosurgery to his brain lesions and while the patient was not on any systemic therapy, restaging scans demonstrated a dramatic near complete regression of the primary renal lesion and metastatic sites, which was attributed to the abscopal effect, mediated by the exposure to ICI and radiotherapy. While its mechanisms are not fully understood, it is believed to stem from the tumor immunosuppression and immunogenicity induced by radiation.
Urology case reports. 2024 Aug 12*** epublish ***
Ardit Feinaj, Evan Fox, Victoria Sinibaldi, Lawrence Kleinberg, Yasser Ged
Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA., Department of Radiology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA., Department of Radiation Oncology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.