CASE REPORT article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Pharmacology of Anti-Cancer Drugs
This article is part of the Research TopicCheckpoint immunotherapy: Reshaping the landscape of gastrointestinal cancer treatment - Volume IIView all 12 articles
A case report of a patient with advanced gastric adenocarcinoma who demonstrated excellent long-term sustained efficacy even after discontinuation of treatment following chemotherapy combined with Claudin18.2 and PD-1 therapy
Provisionally accepted
Siyu Yu
Yu Si Yu*- West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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Gastric cancer is the fifth most common cancer and the third most common cause of cancer death globally. Patients with advanced gastric cancer have poor outcomes and short survival times. This case report presents a remarkable clinical response in a patient with advanced Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated gastric adenocarcinoma treated with a combination of chemotherapy, Claudin18.2-targeted therapy (TST001), and PD-1 inhibition (nivolumab). The patient, initially diagnosed with stage IA disease (pT1bN0M0) after Billroth II gastric resection was performed due to early carcinoma, later developed metastases to the liver, cervicothoracic lymph nodes and abdominal lymph nodes. The patient received seven cycles of CAPOX (capecitabine + oxaliplatin), nivolumab, and TST001, achieving partial response (PR) after treatment. Treatment was discontinued due to aortic dissection requiring surgery. Surprisingly, despite no further antitumor therapy, follow-up imaging over 19 months revealed continued tumor shrinkage, culminating in a near complete response (CR). Therefore, the combination of chemotherapy, Claudin18.2-targeted therapy, and PD-1 inhibitor may be a good treatment strategy for gastric cancer.
Keywords: gastric cancer, Claudin 18.2, EBV (Epstein-Barr virus), Discontinuation of treatment, excellent efficacy
Received: 15 Apr 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Yu and Yu. 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: Yu Si Yu
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