Pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (PEH) is a rare vascular tumor with no established treatment protocol. The authors report the case of a young woman diagnosed with PEH. DNA and RNA analysis by next-generation sequencing was performed on the tumor tissue. A novel germline PALB2 mutation and classical WWTR1-CAMTA1 fusion were identified. She experienced a poor response to sintilimab (a PD-1 inhibitor) plus platinum-based chemotherapy as the first-line treatment. PEH patients harboring a germline PALB2 mutation and WWTR1-CAMTA1 gene fusion may respond poorly to treatment with PD-1 inhibitors plus chemotherapy.
Keywords: PALB2; PD-1 inhibitors; WWTR1-CAMTA1; chemotherapy; pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma.
Pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (PEH) is a rare vascular tumor with no established treatment protocol. Although PD-1 inhibitors have dramatically improved the prognosis of some tumors, the efficacy is unknown in PEH patients. The authors report an advanced PEH patient treated with sintilimab plus platinum-based chemotherapy, who died after two cycles of treatment. The authors inferred that PEH patients with a germline PALB2 mutation and WWTR1-CAMTA1 fusion may not benefit from PD-1 inhibitors plus chemotherapy.