MEK inhibitor treatment is effective in a patient with metastatic carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater with BRAF and NRAS mutations shown by next-generation sequencing

Anticancer Drugs. 2016 Jul;27(6):569-72. doi: 10.1097/CAD.0000000000000355.

Abstract

Here, we present a case of an 84-year-old woman who developed obstructive jaundice and was diagnosed with nonoperable adenocarcinoma originating from the ampulla of Vater, a lethal disease with a median overall survival of less than a year. Her tumor was examined by next-generation sequencing, which showed BRAF and NRAS mutations. To target these mutations, a MEK inhibitor was chosen for treatment. The patient has been treated with a MEK inhibitor for the last 12 months since diagnosis, with clinical and laboratory improvement and manageable side effects. PET-computed tomography imaging has shown stable disease or improvement in the primary and metastatic lesions. This is the first case report of an ampulla of a Vater cancer patient with NRAS and BRAF mutations, identified in next-generation sequencing, and treated successfully with a MEK inhibitor.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Ampulla of Vater / pathology
  • Common Bile Duct Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Common Bile Duct Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Common Bile Duct Neoplasms / pathology
  • Female
  • GTP Phosphohydrolases / genetics*
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • Humans
  • MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Membrane Proteins / genetics*
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / therapeutic use*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf / genetics*
  • Pyridones / adverse effects
  • Pyridones / therapeutic use
  • Pyrimidinones / adverse effects
  • Pyrimidinones / therapeutic use

Substances

  • Membrane Proteins
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Pyridones
  • Pyrimidinones
  • trametinib
  • BRAF protein, human
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf
  • MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases
  • GTP Phosphohydrolases
  • NRAS protein, human