scholarly journals Association between Immune Related Adverse Events and Outcome in Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Treated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 860
Author(s):  
Agnese Paderi ◽  
Roberta Giorgione ◽  
Elisa Giommoni ◽  
Marinella Micol Mela ◽  
Virginia Rossi ◽  
...  

Background: It has been reported that the occurrence of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in oncological patients treated with immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) may be associated with favorable clinical outcome. We reported the clinical correlation between irAEs and the efficacy of ICIs in a real-world cohort of metastatic renal cell cancer (mRCC) patients. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 43 patients with mRCC who were treated with nivolumab or with nivolumab plus ipilimumab. We considered seven specific classes of irAEs including pulmonary, hepatic, gastrointestinal, cutaneous, endocrine, rheumatological, and renal manifestations. We assessed progression-free survival (PFS) of specific irAEs classes compared to the no-irAEs group. Results: Twenty-nine out of 43 patients (67.4%) experienced a total of 49 irAEs registered. The most frequent irAE was thyroid dysfunction (n = 14). The median PFS after the beginning of therapy was significantly longer in patients with thyroid dysfunction and cutaneous reactions. In multivariate analysis, thyroid dysfunction was an independent factor for favorable outcome [HR: 0.29 (95% CI 0.11–0.77) p = 0.013]. Moreover, experiencing ≥2 irAEs in the same patient correlated in multivariate analysis with better outcome compared with none/one irAE [HR: 0.33 (95% CI 0.13–0.84) p = 0.020]. Conclusions: This retrospective study suggests an association between specific irAES (thyroid dysfunction and skin reaction) and efficacy of ICIs in metastatic RCC. Notably, multiple irAEs in a single patient were associated with better tumor response.

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e000144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Abou Alaiwi ◽  
Wanling Xie ◽  
Amin H Nassar ◽  
Shaan Dudani ◽  
Dylan Martini ◽  
...  

BackgroundImmune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) induce a range of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) with various degrees of severity. While clinical experience with ICI retreatment following clinically significant irAEs is growing, the safety and efficacy are not yet well characterized.MethodsThis multicenter retrospective study identified patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with ICI who had >1 week therapy interruption for irAEs. Patients were classified into retreatment and discontinuation cohorts based on whether or not they resumed an ICI. Toxicity and clinical outcomes were assessed descriptively.ResultsOf 499 patients treated with ICIs, 80 developed irAEs warranting treatment interruption; 36 (45%) of whom were restarted on an ICI and 44 (55%) who permanently discontinued. Median time to initial irAE was similar between the retreatment and discontinuation cohorts (2.8 vs 2.7 months, p=0.59). The type and grade of irAEs were balanced across the cohorts; however, fewer retreatment patients required corticosteroids (55.6% vs 84.1%, p=0.007) and hospitalizations (33.3% vs 65.9%, p=0.007) for irAE management compared with discontinuation patients. Median treatment holiday before reinitiation was 0.9 months (0.2–31.6). After retreatment, 50% (n=18/36) experienced subsequent irAEs (12 new, 6 recurrent) with 7 (19%) grade 3 events and 13 drug interruptions. Median time to irAE recurrence after retreatment was 2.8 months (range: 0.3–13.8). Retreatment resulted in 6 (23.1%) additional responses in 26 patients whose disease had not previously responded. From first ICI initiation, median time to next therapy was 14.2 months (95% CI 8.2 to 18.9) and 9.0 months (5.3 to 25.8), and 2-year overall survival was 76% (95%CI 55% to 88%) and 66% (48% to 79%) in the retreatment and discontinuation groups, respectively.ConclusionsDespite a considerable rate of irAE recurrence with retreatment after a prior clinically significant irAE, most irAEs were low grade and controllable. Prospective studies are warranted to confirm that retreatment enhances survival outcomes that justify the safety risks.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A675-A675
Author(s):  
Francois Kaleta ◽  
Heather Brody ◽  
Praveen Namireddy

BackgroundThyroid dysfunction is a well known side effect of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) and is one of the most common causes of immune-related adverse events (IRAE). The incidence varies with each individual therapy but generally estimated to be in the range between 6–18% per one study. Hypothyroidism and thyroiditis are the most common manifestations. Initial hyperthyroidism followed by hypothyroidism is another manifestation. Hypothyroidism is more common with an incidence of 10% whereas hyperthyroidism has an incidence of 5%. Less is known about the incidence of worsening thyroid dysfunction in patients with pre-existing thyroid dysfunction treated with ICB.MethodsA retrospective analysis was collected on 370 patients who received immunotherapy from April 2015 to April 2019. Of those, 212 had abnormal thyroid function tests. We analyzed a subgroup of these patients who had baseline thyroid dysfunction for worsening thyroid dysfunction after they were given ICB. Fifty-three patients were included in the analysis and had an abnormal baseline TSH at the start of immunotherapy. Type of immunotherapy, worst TSH, duration between initiation of immunotherapy to worst TSH, treatment type, and grade of abnormality as per Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Related Adverse Events Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (IRAE-CTCAE) were also recorded. Analysis was done for patients to compare likelihood of worsening TSH resulting in change in treatment for thyroid disorder.ResultsOf the identified patients (N=53) with abnormal TSH screening values outside of the institution’s normal reference range 0.35 - 4.95 uIU/ml, 45.7% (N=16) were hypothyroid and 54.3% (N=19) were hyperthyroid at baseline. Of those who were hypothyroid, 50% (N=8) had worsening TSH and 50% (N=8) had unchanged TSH during treatment. Of those who were hyperthyroid, 31.6% (N=6) had unchanged TSH, 52.6% (N=10) had worsened TSH, and 15.8% (N=3) had normalization of TSH compared to baseline. Overall 26.4% had worsening and of those 11.3% required treatment change.ConclusionsThyroid dysfunction is one of the most common IRAE’s associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Little is known about the impact of immunotherapy on patients with existing thyroid dysfunction. Patients who have underlying thyroid dysfunction are at an increased risk for worsening thyroid dysfunction with the use of ICB but though not unduly above the risk general population. Of those with change, only a modest percentage required an alteration of their endocrine therapy. Of interest, our data suggests a potential increased risk in patients with baseline hyperthyroidism compared to hypothyroidism which may be clinically relevant.Ethics ApprovalThe study was approved by ECU Brody School of Medicine Institution’s Ethics Board, approval number 19-000710.ReferencesBarroso-Sousa R, Barry WT, Garrido-Castro AC, et al. Incidence of Endocrine Dysfunction Following the Use of Different Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Regimens: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA oncology. 2018;4:173–182.Fessas P, Possamai LA, Clark J, et al. Immunotoxicity from checkpoint inhibitor therapy: clinical features and underlying mechanisms. Immunology. 2019; 2020;159:167–177.Brody HM, Macherla S, Bulumulle A, Namireddy P, Cherry CR. The real-world incidence of immunotherapy-related thyroid dysfunction: A retrospective analysis of a single center’s experience over five years. Journal of clinical oncology. 2020;38:98–98.Iyer PC, Cabanillas ME, Waguespack SG, et al. Immune-Related Thyroiditis with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors. Thyroid (New York, N.Y.). 2018;28:1243–1251.Presotto EM, Rastrelli G, Desideri I, et al. Endocrine toxicity in cancer patients treated with nivolumab or pembrolizumab: results of a large multicentre study. Journal of endocrinological investigation. 2019; 2020;43:337–345.Chalan P, Di Dalmazi G, Pani F, De Remigis A, Corsello A, Caturegli P. Thyroid dysfunctions secondary to cancer immunotherapy. Journal of endocrinological investigation. 2017; 2018;41:625–638.Mangla A, Paydary K, Yadav U, Liu J, Lad TE. Predictors and outcomes of thyroid dysfunction with immunotherapy: A single institution observational experience. Journal of clinical oncology. 2019;37:e14134-e14134.Basak EA, van der Meer, Jan W M, Hurkmans DP, et al. Overt Thyroid Dysfunction and Anti-Thyroid Antibodies Predict Response to Anti-PD-1 Immunotherapy in Cancer Patients. Thyroid (New York, N.Y.). 2020;30:966–973.Kassi E, Angelousi A, Asonitis N, et al. Endocrine-related adverse events associated with immune-checkpoint inhibitors in patients with melanoma. Cancer medicine (Malden, MA). 2019;8:6585–6594.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Karhapää ◽  
Siru Mäkelä ◽  
Hanna Laurén ◽  
Marjut Jaakkola ◽  
Camilla Schalin-Jäntti ◽  
...  

Objective: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) can cause endocrine adverse events. However, endocrine AEs could be related to better treatment outcomes. Our aim was to investigate whether this holds true in a real-world setting of metastatic melanoma patients. Design: A retrospective single-institution study. Methods: We included 140 consecutive metastatic melanoma patients treated with ICI between January 2012 and May 2019. We assessed endocrine toxicity and best possible treatment outcomes from electronic patient records, including laboratory parameters, and radiological images. Results: Of the treated patients, 21 patients (15%) were treated with ipilimumab, 46 (33%) with nivolumab, 67 (48%) with pembrolizumab, and six (4%) with combination therapy (ipilimumab + nivolumab). Endocrine AEs appeared in 29% (41/140) patients. Three patients had two different endocrine AEs. Thyroid disorders were the most common: 26% (36/140), followed by hypophysitis: 4% (5/140). Three subjects (2%, 3/140) were diagnosed with autoimmune diabetes. Three patients had to terminate treatment due to endocrine toxicity. Radiological manifestations of endocrine AEs were found in 16 patients (39%, 16/41). Endocrine toxicity was associated with significantly better treatment outcomes. Median progression-free survival (8.1 months, range 5.1 – 11.1 months vs. 2.7 months, range 2.4 – 3.0 months, P < 0.001), and median overall survival (47.5 months, range 15.5 – 79.5 months vs. 23.7 months, range 15.3 – 32.1 months, P = 0.035) were longer for patients experiencing endocrine AEs. Conclusions: The higher number of endocrine AEs suggest regular laboratory monitoring aids in AE detection. Endocrine AEs in metastatic melanoma may correlate with better treatment outcomes.


Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Nikhita Kathuria-Prakash ◽  
Claire Drolen ◽  
Christopher A. Hannigan ◽  
Alexandra Drakaki

Introduction: Renal cell carcinomas (RCC) have been treated with immunotherapy for decades; the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors represents the most recent advance. In this review, we compare these new RCC immunotherapies, with a focus on achieving durable complete responses (CR). Review: Sorafenib and sunitinib were the first Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved targeted agents for RCC, with sunitinib eventually becoming the standard-of-care agent against which novel therapies are compared. In the last five years, many combination therapies based on the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), including ipilimumab/nivolumab, nivolumab/cabozantinib, avelumab/axitinib, pembrolizumab/axitinib, and pembrolizumab/lenvatinib, have demonstrated superior overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) compared to sunitinib. Ongoing clinical trials of hypoxia-induced factor-2 alpha (HIF-2a) inhibitors, chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy targeting CD70, and other new combination therapies have also shown promise and are currently under investigation. Conclusions: Many new combination therapies are approved for RCC treatment, and CR rates suggest that, in the era of immunotherapy, it may be possible to achieve durable responses and survival benefit in patients with metastatic RCC.


2020 ◽  
pp. 107815522096890
Author(s):  
Laura Nice ◽  
Ryan Bycroft ◽  
Xiaoyong Wu ◽  
Shesh N Rai ◽  
Lindsay Figg ◽  
...  

Introduction Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have become the standard of care in many cancer types. As the number of patients receiving ICIs for various cancers continues to expand, patients and practitioners should be aware of potentially severe immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Despite reports of the incidence of grade 3/4 toxicities, the proportion of patients whose symptoms were clinically severe enough to warrant hospitalization for adverse event management is unknown. Methods This single center, retrospective, observational study was designed to determine the impact of irAEs on patients and the hospital. Patients who started ICIs from May 2016 through May 2019 for melanoma or lung cancer were included. The primary outcome was incidence of hospitalization for irAE. Secondary outcomes included median length of hospitalization, time to onset of irAE, rates of hospitalization for irAE per each checkpoint inhibitor regimen, organ system affected, progression free survival, and overall survival. Results Of 384 patients with melanoma or lung cancer, 27 (7%) were hospitalized at our institution for an irAE. The most common irAE leading to hospitalization was colitis for patients with melanoma and pneumonitis for patients with lung cancer. The median length of stay across all hospitalizations was 10 days. Twenty-five patients required the use of corticosteroids while hospitalized, while eight of these patients required second line irAE treatment. For the total patient population, 34.7% experienced a grade 1/2 irAE and 13.1% experienced a grade 3/4 irAE. Conclusion Our cohort of patients experienced similar rates irAEs as reported in clinical trials and published reports.


BMC Cancer ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Masuda ◽  
Hirokazu Shoji ◽  
Kengo Nagashima ◽  
Shun Yamamoto ◽  
Masashi Ishikawa ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Recent studies have shown that immune-related adverse events (irAEs) caused by immune checkpoint inhibitors were associated with clinical benefit in patients with melanoma or lung cancer. In advanced gastric cancer (AGC) patients, there have been few reports about the correlation between irAEs and efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors. In this study, we retrospectively investigated the correlation between irAEs and efficacy in AGC patients treated with nivolumab. Methods The subjects of this study were AGC patients received nivolumab monotherapy between January 2015 and August 2018. IrAEs were defined as those AEs having a potential immunological basis that required close follow-up, or immunosuppressive therapy and/or endocrine therapy. We divided the patients who received nivolumab into two groups based on occurrence of irAEs; those with irAEs (irAE group) or those without (non-irAE group). We assessed the efficacy in both groups. Results Of the 65 AGC patients that received nivolumab monotherapy, 14 developed irAEs. The median time to onset of irAEs was 30.5 days (range 3–407 days). Median follow-up period for survivors was 32 months (95% CI, 10.8 to 34.5). The median progression-free survival was 7.5 months (95% CI, 3.6 to 11.5) in the irAE group and 1.4 months (95% CI, 1.2 to 1.6) in the non-irAE group (HR = 0.11, p < 0.001). The median overall survival was 16.8 months (95% CI, 4.4 to not reached) in the irAE group and 3.2 months (95% CI, 2.2 to 4.1) in the non-irAE group (HR = 0.17, p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that number of metastatic sites ≥2 (HR = 2.15; 95% CI, 1.02 to 4.54), high ALP level (HR = 2.50; 95% CI, 1.27 to 4.54), and absence of irAEs (HR = 9.54, 95% CI, 3.34 to 27.30 for yes vs. no) were associated with a poor prognosis. The most frequent irAEs was diarrhea/colitis (n = 5). Grade 3 adverse events were observed in 6 patients; hyperglycemia (n = 2), diarrhea/colitis (n = 1), adrenal insufficiency (n = 1), aspartate aminotransferase increased (n = 1), peripheral motor neuropathy (n = 1). There were no grade 4 or 5 adverse events related to nivolumab. Conclusions Development of irAEs was associated with clinical benefit for AGC patients receiving nivolumab monotherapy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuo Xu ◽  
Ruixue Lai ◽  
Qian Zhao ◽  
Pandong Zhao ◽  
Ruili Zhao ◽  
...  

BackgroundImmune-related adverse events (irAEs) caused by immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) were associated with clinical benefit in cancer patients of melanoma, a lung cancer. In the present study, we investigated the correlation between irAE and ICI efficacy in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.MethodsWe divided the HCC patients who received the anti-PD-1 antibody into two groups as irAE group and non-irAE group according to the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events ver. 4.03. The treatment efficacy of ICIs was evaluated with objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS).ResultOf the 65 HCC patients who received the anti-PD-1 antibody (monotherapy or combined with targeted medicine), median PFS in the irAE group was superior to that in the non-irAE group (302 days vs. 148 days, p = 0.004). Median OS in the irAE group was also better than that in the non-irAE group (374 days vs. 279 days, p = 0.038). Although the statistical difference for DCR in the irAE group and non-irAE group was not reached, the DCR of the irAE displayed a trend better than that of the non-irAE group (41.20% vs. 20.80%, p = 0.118). Multivariate analysis also demonstrated that the non-irAE group (HR = 6.410, 95% CI: 1.404 to 29.275) was associated independently with the poor prognosis.ConclusionsDevelopment of irAEs was associated with clinical benefit for HCC patients who were treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors; irAE, particularly low-grade irAE, was a predictable marker for better ICI treatment efficiency in HCC patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Wang ◽  
Xiaoyang Zhai ◽  
Ji Li ◽  
Jingyuan Guan ◽  
Shuhui Xu ◽  
...  

Recently, the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of patients with advanced cancer has been significantly improved due to the application of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Low response rate and high occurrence of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) make urgently need for ideal predictive biomarkers to identity efficient population and guide treatment strategies. Cytokines are small soluble proteins with a wide range of biological activity that are secreted by activated immune cells or tumor cells and act as a bridge between innate immunity, infection, inflammation and cancer. Cytokines can be detected in peripheral blood and suitable for dynamic detection. During the era of ICIs, many studies investigated the role of cytokines in prediction of the efficiency and toxicity of ICIs. Herein, we review the relevant studies on TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-6, IL-8, TGF-β and other cytokines as biomarkers for predicting ICI-related reactions and adverse events, and explore the immunomodulatory mechanisms. Finally, the most important purpose of this review is to help identify predictors of ICI to screen patients who are most likely to benefit from immunotherapy.


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