Durable complete response to nivolumab in a patient with HIV and metastatic non-small cell lung cancer

Programmed death 1 (PD-1) inhibitors have been shown to increase overall survival in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. HIV patients have increased expression of PD-1 on their T-cell surfaces. We describe a patient with well-controlled HIV and NSCLC who underwent treatment with nivolumab and had a durable complete response (CR) with his viral load remaining undetectable. To date there is only one case report of a cancer patient with melanoma and with HIV treated with a programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor. The majority of clinical trials involving PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors exclude HIV patients.