Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33775249›Full record

ArticleJournal of medical case reports2021

The use of immunotherapy treatment in malignant pheochromocytomas/paragangliomas: a case report.

Robin Raquel Rodriguez, Saleha Rizwan, Khaled Alhamad, Gene Grant Finley

Open access · goldAbstract readCase Reports
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of medical case reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy in Neuroendocrine Tumors.Hormone and metabolic research = Hormon- und Stoffwechselforschung = Hormones et metabolisme · 2022
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Robin Raquel RodriguezDepartment of Medical Oncology, Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA, 15212, USA. robin.rodriguez@ahn.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9926-6690
Saleha RizwanDepartment of Medical Oncology, Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA, 15212, USA.
Khaled AlhamadDepartment of Medical Oncology, Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA, 15212, USA.
Gene Grant FinleyDepartment of Medical Oncology, Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA, 15212, USA.
Allegheny General Hospital · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPheochromocytomas are a subset of paragangliomas, which are a rare group of neural crest cell-derived tumors. Malignant cases of both pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas are even rarer, and currently there is no standard of care. This case report details the use of off-label immunotherapy and its efficacy in the management of the aforementioned tumor. CASE PRESENTATION: Herein is presented a case of a 60-year-old Caucasian female with a rare malignant pheochromocytoma. The tumor was determined to be unresectable because of involvement of surrounding organs. Radiation therapy was also not a viable option because of concerns over appreciable toxicity in relation to mass size. As there is no standard of care for malignant cases, the patient was started on chemotherapeutic agents but was soon shown to be intolerant to this treatment. As she was ineligible for several clinical trials, the patient was started on the off-label immunotherapeutic agents nivolumab and ipilimumab. Immunotherapy use resulted in decreased tumor size, improved quality of life, and reconsideration for radiation therapy.

conclusionsThe use of immunotherapy in pheochromocytoma in this patient clearly demonstrated substantial benefit, as she was able to be reconsidered for radiation therapy. Not only has the patient been tolerant of this treatment, but she has exhibited progression-free survival of over 20 months. As there is no current standard treatment for malignant pheochromocytomas, the success of its use in this patient lends support to the ongoing clinical trials regarding the use of immunotherapy in rare tumors, including pheochromocytomas.

Indexed as

Adrenal Gland NeoplasmsParagangliomaPheochromocytomaFemaleHumansImmunotherapyMiddle AgedQuality of LifeCase reportImmunotherapyOff-label treatment optionsOncologyPheochromocytomasRare tumors

Identifiers

PMID33775249
PMCPMC8006354
OpenAlexW3140495351

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.