You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Unexpected outcome (positive or negative) including adverse drug reactions
Case report
Prolonged response to vismodegib in a patient with systemic medulloblastoma metastases
  1. Seth A Climans1,
  2. David R Macdonald2,
  3. Duncan EK Sutherland3 and
  4. Warren P Mason1
  1. 1Department of Medicine, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  2. 2Department of Medical Oncology, London Regional Cancer Program, London, Ontario, Canada
  3. 3Department of Medical Imaging, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario, Canada
  1. Correspondence to Dr Seth A Climans; seth.climans{at}gmail.com

Abstract

Some patients with metastatic medulloblastoma can be successfully treated with targeted therapy. We report the case of a 42-year-old woman who was diagnosed with sonic hedgehog (SHH)-subgroup medulloblastoma. She was treated with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. She then developed bone pain. A positron emission tomography (PET) scan confirmed widespread bone metastases from her medulloblastoma. She was started on vismodegib, an oral smoothened inhibitor that targets her tumour type. Her bone pain resolved. A repeat PET scan showed resolution of almost all metastases. Fourteen months after starting vismodegib, her disease recurred and she was transitioned to temozolomide chemotherapy. We document an important case of prolonged response to vismodegib in a patient with systemic SHH-subgroup medulloblastoma metastases.

  • neurology (drugs and medicines)
  • neurooncology

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2020-236406

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Contributors SAC consulted with the research patient, collected and analysed data, drafted and edited the text, and approved the final version of the manuscript. DRM consulted with the research patient, edited the text and approved the final version of the manuscript. DS assisted with scintigraphic investigations, revised the manuscript for intellectual content and approved the final version of the manuscript. WPM consulted with the research patient, edited the text and approved the final version of the manuscript.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.