CASE REPORT article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1677723
This article is part of the Research TopicCommunity Series in Reducing Adverse Effects of Cancer Immunotherapy: Volume IIIView all 9 articles
Case Report and Literature Review: Tislelizumab combined with Lenvatinib and Polymeric Micellar Paclitaxel for Thymic Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Provisionally accepted
- 1First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
- 2The affiliated Wuxi People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, China
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Thymic squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) is a rare malignancy with an annual incidence of 0.15–0.32 per 100,000 population and exhibits aggressive behavior including early metastasis. Anti-PD-1 immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy has emerged as a potential strategy for TSCC. We report a 60-year-old male with a 1-month history of persistent dry cough and generalized fatigue. Diagnostic evaluation revealed advanced TSCC (cT3N2M1b), with bilateral lung, right pleural, left adrenal, mediastinal and right hilar lymph nodes metastases. Significantly elevated CA125 and CYFRA211 levels were observed. Initial first-line carboplatin plus polymeric micellar paclitaxel (PM-PTX) stabilized the disease. Subsequent adjustments to the immunotherapy regimen led to a two-phase approach combining tislelizumab, lenvatinib, PM-PTX, with or without carboplatin. This strategy achieved sustained tumor burden reduction with improved quality of life and nutritional status throughout treatment, without significant immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Additionally, we discuss the mechanisms of combination therapy, immunotherapy toxicities in thymic malignancies, and propose personalized combination strategies to guide clinicians in selecting treatment options.
Keywords: Advanced thymic squamous cell carcinoma, Immunotherapy, irAEs, case report, literature review
Received: 01 Aug 2025; Accepted: 03 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Wang, Shou, Qian, Ma and Shu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yongqian Shu, First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
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