Article Text
Summary
We present a challenging case of a previously healthy 23-year-old man who developed an inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour of the hard palate, harbouring a rearrangement of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) locus. Despite surgical intervention, radiotherapy and ALK-inhibition therapy, the tumour recurred locally and metastasised to regional lymph nodes, and the patient passed away roughly 9 months after diagnosis from local progression. The rapid progression of this patient’s disease and its resistance to treatment demonstrate the potentially aggressive clinical course of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumours. ALK-inhibition therapy was unsuccessful in this ALK-positive tumour, highlighting the need for further investigation of markers predictive of disease progression and treatment response.
- cancer intervention
- genetics
- head and neck cancer
- radiotherapy
- oral and maxillofacial surgery
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Footnotes
Contributors Study conception and design (DNM, DMM, AWL) and drafting (DNM, AWL, DMM, DRD). All authors participated in the analysis/interpretation of the case report, in revising the manuscript and read and approved the final manuscript.
Funding This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public,commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent Parental/guardian consent obtained.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.