Successful treatment with tepotinib followed by pembrolizumab in pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma harbouring a <i>MET</i> exon 14 skipping mutation: A case report

Pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma (PPC) is a subtype of sarcomatoid carcinoma that accounts for 0.1-0.3% of all lung cancer cases. PPC is typically resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and no standard treatment protocols are currently established. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, the effectiveness of the MET inhibitor tepotinib in the treatment of PPC has not yet been reported. Herein, the present study describes the case of a 75-year-old woman with PPC harbouring a <i>MET</i> exon 14 skipping mutation who was successfully treated with tepotinib as first-line systemic therapy, followed by pembrolizumab as subsequent immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Although the tumour relapsed 4 months postoperatively, treatment with tepotinib resulted in a favourable response and subsequent pembrolizumab therapy achieved a durable response. This case suggests that patients with sarcomatoid carcinoma, which is generally associated with a poor prognosis, may experience improved outcomes with the use of molecular targeted therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors.