Second-line therapies for steroid-refractory immune-related adverse events in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors
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Contributors
Abstract
Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) induce adverse events (irAEs) that do not respond to steroids, i.e. steroid-refractory (sr) irAEs, and irAEs in which steroids cannot be tapered, i.e. steroid-dependent (sd) irAEs, in about 10% of cases. An evidence-based analysis of the effectiveness of second-line immunosuppressive agents with regard to irAE and tumor control is lacking. Methods: The international web-based Side Effect Registry Immuno-Oncology (SERIO; http://serio-registry.org) is a collaborative initiative with the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute to document rare, severe, complex or therapy-refractory immunotherapy-induced side effects. The registry was queried on August 1, 2023 for cases of irAEs which were treated with second-line therapies. Results: From a total of 1330 cases, 217 patients (16.3%) received 249 second‐line therapies. A total of 19 different second-line therapies were employed, including TNF-alpha antagonists (46.5%), intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG; 19.1%), mycophenolate mofetil (15.9%), and methotrexate (3.6%). Therapy choices were determined by the type of irAE. The time to onset of sr-/sd-irAEs after ICI initiation did not consistently differ from steroid-responsive irAEs. While 74.3% of sr-/sd-irAEs resolved and 13.1% had improved, 4.3% persisted, 3.9% resulted in permanent sequelae, and 4.3% in death with ongoing symptoms. Infliximab exhibited potential for earlier symptom improvement compared to mycophenolate mofetil or IVIG. Tumor response in patients with second-line treated sd-/sr-irAE was similar to patients with irAEs treated with steroids only. Conclusion: Several second-line therapies are effective against sr-/sd-irAEs, the second-line therapies show no clear negative impact on tumor response, and infliximab shows potential for faster improvement of symptoms. However, prospective comparative data are needed.
Details
Original language | English |
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Article number | 114028 |
Journal | European journal of cancer |
Volume | 203 |
Publication status | Published - May 2024 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
PubMed | 38652976 |
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ORCID | /0000-0003-4340-9706/work/169643425 |
ORCID | /0000-0001-6232-5132/work/169643678 |
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Keywords
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors, Immune-related adverse events, Second-line immunosuppressants, Steroid-dependent, Steroid-refractory