scholarly journals COVID-19 lung injury as a primer for immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs)-related pneumonia in a patient affected by squamous head and neck carcinoma treated with PD-L1 blockade: a case report

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e001870
Author(s):  
Angelo Dipasquale ◽  
Pasquale Persico ◽  
Elena Lorenzi ◽  
Daoud Rahal ◽  
Armando Santoro ◽  
...  

By the beginning of the global pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 infection has dramatically impacted on oncology daily practice. In the current oncological landscape, where immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of several malignancies, distinguishing between COVID-19 and immune-mediated pneumonitis can be hard because of shared clinical, radiological and pathological features. Indeed, their common mechanism of aberrant inflammation could lead to a mutual and amplifying interaction.We describe the case of a 65–year-old patient affected by metastatic squamous head and neck cancer and candidate to an experimental therapy including an anti-PD-L1 agent. COVID-19 ground-glass opacities under resolution were an incidental finding during screening procedures and worsened after starting immunotherapy. The diagnostic work-up was consistent with ICIs-related pneumonia and it is conceivable that lung injury by SARS-CoV-2 has acted as an inflammatory primer for the development of the immune-related adverse event.Patients recovered from COVID-19 starting ICIs could be at greater risk of recall immune-mediated pneumonitis. Nasopharyngeal swab and chest CT scan are recommended before starting immunotherapy. The awareness of the phenomenon could allow an easier interpretation of radiological changes under treatment and a faster diagnostic work-up to resume ICIs. In the presence of clinical benefit, for asymptomatic ICIs-related pneumonia a watchful-waiting approach and immunotherapy prosecution are suggested.

Author(s):  
Carlos Miguel Chiesa-Estomba ◽  
Maria Soriano-Reixach ◽  
Ekhiñe Larruscain-Sarasola ◽  
Jon Alexander Sistiaga-Suarez ◽  
Jose Angel González-García ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 598-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem De Hertogh ◽  
Peter Vaes ◽  
Jan Versijpt

Oral Oncology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 118 ◽  
pp. 105350
Author(s):  
R.C. Schoonbeek ◽  
F.F.S. Bult ◽  
B.E.C. Plaat ◽  
M.J.H. Witjes ◽  
A. van der Hoorn ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 205873841880641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Torretta ◽  
Michele Gaffuri ◽  
Tullio Ibba ◽  
Pasquale Capaccio ◽  
Paola Marchisio ◽  
...  

Non-tuberculous mycobacterial lymphadenitis (NTML) accounts for about 95% of the cases of head-and-neck mycobacterial lymphadenitis, and its prevalence has been increasing in the Western world. The diagnostic work-up can be challenging, and differential diagnoses such as tuberculous and suppurative lymphadenitis need to be considered. It may, therefore, not be diagnosed until the disease is in a late stage, by which time it becomes locally destructive and is characterized by a chronically discharging sinus. The treatment options include a medical approach, a wait-and-see policy, and surgery, with the last being considered the treatment of choice despite the high risk of iatrogenic nerve lesions. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of pediatric, head-and-neck NTML based on the literature and our own experience, with particular emphasis on the impact and limitations of surgery.


Oral Oncology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 118 ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Rosanne C. Schoonbeek ◽  
Frederike F.S. Bult ◽  
Boudewijn E.C. Plaat ◽  
Max J.H. Witjes ◽  
Anouk van der Hoorn ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document