Introduction: The syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) is the most common cause of hyponatremia in cancer patients, occurring most frequently in patients with small cell lung cancer. However, this syndrome occurs extremely rarely in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. The results of the clinical trials have revealed that immuno-oncological therapies are effective for long periods of time, providing hope for long survival and with a good quality of life.
Case presentation: We present the case of a female patient who was 62 years old at the time of diagnosis in 2016 who underwent surgery for a right pulmonary tumor (pulmonary adenocarcinoma) and subsequently underwent adjuvant chemotherapy. The patient had a left inoperable mediastinohilar relapse in 2018, which was treated using polychemotherapy The patient also had an occurrence of progressive metastasis and a syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) in 2019 for which immunotherapy was initiated. The patient has continued with immunotherapy until the time this study began to be written (April 2023), the results being the remission of hyponatremia, the clinical benefits and long-term survival.
Discussion: The main therapeutic option for SIADH in cancer patients is the treatment of the underlying disease, and its correction depends almost exclusively on a good response to oncological therapy. The initiation of immunotherapy at the time of severe hyponatremia occurrence led to its remission as well as the remission of the other two episodes of hyponatremia, which the patient presented throughout the evolution of the disease, demonstrating an obvious causal relationship between SIADH and the favorable response to immunotherapy.
Conclusions: Each patient must be approached individually, taking into account the various particular aspects. Immunotherapy proves to be the innovative treatment that contributes to increasing the survival of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer and to increasing their quality of life.
Keywords: immunotherapy; long-term survival; non-small cell lung cancer; syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion.