A case report of abscopal toxicity in a patient with lung adenocarcinoma

The abscopal effect describes tumor responses outside the irradiated field. The literature shows increased overall survival and response rates in patients receiving immunotherapy and radiation, likely from exaggerated abscopal effects. We present a 57-year-old woman with stage 4 lung adenocarcinoma who received treatment with a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. She had disease progression on maintenance immunotherapy, confirming resistance. Palliative radiation to the sternal bone lesion resulted in a significant response to all areas of cancer, confirming the abscopal effect. Unfortunately, she developed severe pneumonitis; to our knowledge, this is the first case of abscopal lung toxicity.