Intestinal SMARCA4-deficient undifferentiated carcinoma: a case series and systematic review of the literature
Some patients with a rare aggressive intestinal cancer achieve lasting remissions with immunotherapy, though better predictors of who benefits are still needed.
This case series and literature synthesis of 20 intestinal SMARCA4-deficient undifferentiated carcinoma cases confirms the tumor's aggressive behavior (median OS 11 months) and poor chemotherapy response, but identifies a subset achieving durable CRs with pembrolizumab. The variable immunotherapy response requires molecular predictors of benefit.
What the study was
- Study design
- Case series + systematic literature review (n=20 aggregated)
- Population
- Patients with intestinal SMARCA4-deficient undifferentiated carcinoma (n=20 aggregated)
- Sample size
- 20
- Category
- Treatment Innovation
- Maturity
- Exploratory
- Journal
- World Journal of Surgical Oncology
Why it surfaced
SMARCA4-DUC is extremely rare and aggressive with no standard treatment; the pembrolizumab signal in a subset warrants monitoring. Small n=20 limits conclusions.
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