The successful use of pembrolizumab in a renal transplant recipient with metastatic melanoma.

We report a case in which a renal transplant recipient with metastatic melanoma had an excellent response to treatment with second line programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor therapy, pembrolizumab. Acute cellular allograft rejection on initiation of PD-1 inhibitor was successfully reversed with methylprednisolone. By converting the patient to sirolimus and giving predose prednisolone, pembrolizumab was continued with stable renal function and an excellent oncological response. This case supports the efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors in patients who are chronically immunosuppressed, and suggests an approach to maintain transplant function.