Tislelizumab combined with anlotinib in the second-line treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.

RATIONALE: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a malevolent tumor originated from pleura and often leads to poor prognosis. Chemotherapy of pemetrexed and cisplatin combined with antiangiogenic therapy of bevacizumab is recommended as the first-line regimen by guidelines. However, there are few sustainable second-line anti-tumor theraies that bring distinct survival benefit after the occurrence of drug resistance as the reported mPFS (median progression-free survival) scarcely exceeds 6 months. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are extensively investigated in pan-cancer, and dual immunotherapy has been listed in the first-line recommendation of MPM in several guidelines, while MPM patients benefit modestly from immune checkpoint inhibitors combination or monotherapy in second-line practice.

PATIENT CONCERNS AND DIAGNOSIS: We report a 59-year-old male patient who was diagnosed with unresectable MPM in April 2021.

INTERVENTIONS: He received firstly pemetrexed combined with platinum and bevacizumab, which barely curbed disease progression; When the first line treatment failed, he was switched to tislelizumab combined with anlotinib.

OUTCOMES: Tislelizumab combined with anlotinib significantly relieved his clinical symptoms, and imaging examination further validated the improvement. Until present, the second-line treatment PFS is more than 10 months.

LESSONS: The case firstly demonstrated the efficacy of tislelizumab combined with anlotinib in the second-line management of MPM. Thus, immunotherapy combined with small-molecule multi-target anti-angiogenic medication may be alternative for the second-line schemes of MPM.