Diagnosis and Treatment of Rheumatic Adverse Events Related to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

A Rare Case of Giant Cell Arteritis After the Administration of Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy in a Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Patient

We present a rare case of metastatic renal cell carcinoma in a patient who developed giant cell arteritis (GCA) after the administration of checkpoint inhibitor therapy with nivolumab and ipilimumab. The patient was initially treated with a combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab, showing a near-complete response with minimal side effects. However, after several cycles of checkpoint inhibitor therapy, the patient developed symptoms consistent with GCA, leading to a halt in the immunotherapy. This report highlights the complexity of managing the adverse effects of immunotherapeutic agents and the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in the management of complications such as GCA.

Rheumatic Immune-Related Adverse Events due to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors—A 2023 Update

With the aging of the population, malignancies are becoming common complications in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), particularly in elderly patients. Such malignancies often interfere with RA treatment. Among several therapeutic agents, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) which antagonize immunological brakes on T lymphocytes have emerged as a promising treatment option for a variety of malignancies. In parallel, evidence has accumulated that ICIs are associated with numerous immune-related adverse events (irAEs), such as hypophysitis, myocarditis, pneumonitis, and colitis. Moreover, ICIs not only exacerbate pre-existing autoimmune diseases, but also cause de novo rheumatic disease–like symptoms, such as arthritis, myositis, and vasculitis, which are currently termed rheumatic irAEs. Rheumatic irAEs differ from classical rheumatic diseases in multiple aspects, and treatment should be individualized based on the severity. Close collaboration with oncologists is critical for preventing irreversible organ damage. This review summarizes the current evidence regarding the mechanisms and management of rheumatic irAEs with focus on arthritis, myositis, and vasculitis. Based on these findings, potential therapeutic strategies against rheumatic irAEs are discussed.

Side Effects of Cancer Immunotherapies: Dermatologic and Rheumatologic Toxicities

Dermatologic and rheumatologic toxicities are frequent adverse events during treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors in oncology. Timely identification of these events and the referral to the oncologist or dermatologist are important in daily practice, such an organ damage involvements can be severe and sometimes life-threatening. The diagnosis and management of cutaneous toxicities, such as maculopapular rash and bullous dermatitis in particular, must be based on the body surface affected by skin lesions. Corticosteroids are basic treatment in moderate to severe cases. Rheumatologic toxicities are rarer and more heterogeneous, and they are often underestimated. They can occur in the absence of autoantibodies, and myositis can be life-threatening.

Neuro-ophthalmic complications of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy: Current status and future directions

Since 2011, use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in cancer immunotherapy dramatically expanded, both alone and in combination with either a different cancer treatment or with two different ICIs. With this increase in use have come a myriad of adverse effects from enhanced immune activation, including ophthalmic and neurologic immune related adverse events (irAE). Neuro-ophthalmic immune related adverse events (NOirAE) associated with use of ICIs are increasingly recognized and their severity may actually limit use of potentially life-saving immunotherapy. NOirAEs comprise a wide variety of presentations involving both the central and peripheral nervous system. They cause afferent or efferent visual dysfunction, including among them optic neuropathy and edema, orbital inflammatory disease, and ocular myasthenia. While treatment for irAEs typically involves immunosuppression with corticosteroids, there is no expert consensus regarding best practices for treatment of NOirAEs and whether to stop ICI immunotherapy for the cancer or not. This state-of-the-art review explores the pathophysiologic basis for NOirAEs, provides a framework for categorizing them within neuro-ophthalmology, and discusses what is needed to close the current knowledge gaps in diagnosis and management of an increasing population of cancer patients requiring neuro-ophthalmic care.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated arthritis in advanced pulmonary adenocarcinoma: A case report

BACKGROUND

With the wide application of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in cancer treatment, immune-related adverse events occur frequently, involving almost all organs and systems. The incidence of ICI-associated arthritis (IA) is unknown. In most cases, IA is not serious and non-lethal. Higher checkpoint inhibitor arthritis disease activity may be associated with cancer progression. Here, we report a severe case of IA with high arthritis disease activity in advanced pulmonary adenocarcinoma, causing permanent withdrawal of pembrolizumab, but the patient remained in complete remission (CR) 20 mo after the development of IA.

CASE SUMMARY

An 81-year-old smoking man was admitted to our hospital because of left chest pain for 9 mo. He was finally diagnosed with advanced pulmonary adenocarcinoma, with programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 expression of 70%. The patient responded to pembrolizumab treatment and achieved CR, but IA occurred after the 5th cycle of pembrolizumab administration. Although non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs were prescribed, arthralgia and joint swelling occurred. The symptoms of arthritis were further aggravated when immunotherapy was given again after short-term withdrawal. Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) score, a traditional measure of arthritis activity, was 43. Intravenous methylprednisolone was prescribed at 20 mg/d and then tapered over the subsequent 4 wk. The symptoms of arthritis steadily improved and completely resolved 4 mo after withdrawal of pembrolizumab. A recent follow-up in June 2022 revealed satisfactory clinical recovery of arthritis and the patient remained in CR.

CONCLUSION

This case report highlights that early recognition of IA and appropriate treatment are critical to improving the outcome of both ICI-arthritis and lung cancer.

Rheumatological Adverse Events Following Immunotherapy for Cancer

Background and Objectives: The occurrence of rheumatological side effects in a patient after receiving immunotherapy for cancer is becoming increasingly common. Oncologists often fail to diagnose and refer affected patients to rheumatologists. This paper presents the various rheumatological adverse events that occur after immunotherapy in patients as well as their treatment and evolution. Materials and Methods: A total of 36 patients were monitored between November 2018 and March 2020. The oncologist monitoring the immunotherapy-treated patients identified the occurrence of musculoskeletal side effects. The grading of toxicities was performed by both the oncologist and the rheumatologist using common terminology criteria for adverse events (CTCAE). Rheumatological treatment was administered, and for some patients, immunotherapy was discontinued. Results: The clinical presentations of the patients varied. Mild side effects (grade 1-2) were reported in a higher proportion than severe side effects (grade 3-5). Therefore, thirty-one patients had mild-to-moderate side effects, and five patients had severe side effects. Adverse reactions occurred, on average, 10 weeks after the initiation of immunotherapy; this indicated that the severity of the toxicity was dose dependent. Patients were treated with NSAIDs or prednisone, depending on the severity of the side effects, and for patients with severe manifestations, immunotherapy was discontinued. The remission of rheumatic manifestations varied depending on the grade of the manifestations. Conclusions: The clinical, biological, and ultrasound presentations of the patients with adverse events followed by cancer treatments differed from classic rheumatological manifestations. Thorough examinations of these patients by both oncologists and rheumatologists are needed in order to correctly diagnose and treat rheumatological adverse events. Multiple studies that include a larger number of participants are needed in order to better understand the pathogenesis and clinical evolution of these patients under different treatment conditions.

Myositis/Myasthenia after Pembrolizumab in a Bladder Cancer Patient with an Autoimmunity-Associated HLA: Immune-Biological Evaluation and Case Report

Pembrolizumab (mAb to PD-1) has been recently approved for the therapy of pretreated urothelial cancer. Despite the efficacy, it is often accompanied by unpredictable and sometime severe immune-related (ir) adverse events (AEs). Here, we report the clinical and immune-biological characterization of a patient with a metastatic bladder cancer who developed myositis signs (M) and a myasthenia-like syndrome (MLS) during treatment with pembrolizumab. The patient presented an autoimmunity-associated HLA haplotype (HLA-A*02/HLA-B*08/HLA-C*07/HLA-DRB1*03) and experienced an increase in activated CD8 T-cells along the treatment. The symptomatology regressed after pembrolizumab discontinuation and a pyridostigmine and steroids-based therapy. This is the first report of concurrent M and MLS appearance in cancer patients receiving pembrolizumab. More efforts are needed to define early the risk and the clinical meaning of irAEs in this setting.