Researchers at the University of Cincinnati’s Gardner Neuroscience Institute’s Brain Tumor Center confirmed on May 13 that they are the first in the world to achieve complete remission of a rare pituitary cancer using a novel immunotherapy treatment.
The findings were published in Surgical Neurology International and featured in The Cancer Letter. The research team is urging neurosurgical and neuro-oncology communities worldwide to use tumor genomic testing in cases of pituitary carcinomas and aggressive pituitary adenoma, suggesting it could guide consideration for immunotherapy as a potential first-line treatment.
“To date, immunotherapy has revolutionized the care of patients with metastatic melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer, but until recently, they hadn’t been available for patients with aggressive pituitary cancer,” said Jonathan Forbes, associate professor and residency program director in the Department of Neurosurgery in UC’s College of Medicine. Forbes said tumors involving the pituitary gland at the base of the brain are relatively common, but highly aggressive tumors there are rare. He said these tumors have historically been difficult to treat and have responded poorly to standard treatments such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy with temozolomide.
Forbes explained that while traditional agents like temozolomide target dividing cells indiscriminately, newer precision therapies like immunotherapy can selectively target tumor-associated mutations. In their case study, Forbes and his colleagues described a patient who initially presented with visual loss due to a pituitary tumor. After surgical removal restored vision fully, pathological testing revealed an extremely biologically aggressive tumor. Despite post-operative radiation therapy keeping the patient tumor-free for about a year after surgery, recurrence followed.
When standard chemotherapy failed to suppress further growth—leading to multi-focal progression and double vision—the patient considered hospice before opting into a clinical trial guided by genomic analysis conducted by UC Brain Tumor Center staff. “Following a thorough review of tumor genomics, we were able to get the patient signed up for the right clinical trial,” Forbes said. “Using that scientifically-informed regimen, he was able to clear the cancer. The double vision completely resolved on the immunotherapy regimen. It was the first in the world to have a complete response, meaning the cancer completely vanished and did not return after medication was stopped.”