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CASE REPORT article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1567324
This article is part of the Research Topic Immunotherapeutic Advances in Brain Tumors View all 3 articles
Intrathecal administration of PD-1 inhibitor combined with pemetrexed for leptomeningeal metastases from breast cancer: a case report
Provisionally accepted- Department of Radiation Oncology, Huizhou Third People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Huizhou, China
Leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) is a fatal complication of malignant tumors with limited treatment options. Finding more effective therapeutic strategies is of significant importance. This case reports an LM patient from breast cancer treated with intrathecal pemetrexed (15 mg) combined with PD-1 inhibitors (40 mg). The pemetrexed dosing regimen included an induction phase (twice weekly for 2 weeks), a consolidation phase (once weekly for 4 weeks), and a maintenance phase (once monthly). The PD-1 inhibitor dosing regimen included an induction phase (once every 2 weeks for 6 weeks) and a maintenance phase (once monthly). The patient showed good tolerance, with no severe adverse reactions observed, and achieved favorable therapeutic outcomes, including complete resolution of neurological symptoms, negative conversion of cerebrospinal fluid cytology, and significant reduction of imaging-detected lesions. This case provides a new approach to the treatment of LM, suggesting that intrathecal immunotherapy combined with intrathecal chemotherapy may be a safe and effective treatment option, offering valuable insights for future clinical applications.
Keywords: Leptomeningeal metastasis, Intrathecal administration, PD-1 inhibitor, pemetrexed, breast cancer
Received: 27 Jan 2025; Accepted: 03 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Pan, Huang, Liu, Tai, Chen, Liu and Yang. 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:
Guozi Yang, Department of Radiation Oncology, Huizhou Third People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Huizhou, China
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