Major pathological remissions in a patient with stage IIIA nonsmall cell lung cancer after neoadjuvant tislelizumab combined with chemotherapy: a case report and literature review

Introduction Currently, there are few reports of patients with locally advanced lung cancer achieving a clinical complete response by medical treatment. Preoperative neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy is an option for patients with unresectable, locally advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) which is of great potential, and may change traditional treatment paradigms. There are relatively few large-scale, high-quality randomized-controlled trials yet, and limitations such as short postoperative follow-up period and immature disease-free survival and overall survival data still persist. Thus, evidence-based medical evidence is urgently needed. It is worthy to explore the further treatment of patients who achieved complete response after initial treatment, though lacking of evidence by now. Case presentation We report a stage IIIA lung squamous cell carcinoma case who achieved a major pathologic remission after neoadjuvant treatment with tislelizumab and chemotherapy. Conclusion Our case study contributes to the existing evidence on the feasibility, efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy in locally advanced unresectable NSCLC.