Cancer Immunotherapy: Knowing the Immune-related Adverse Events

By DocWire News Editors - Last Updated: September 4, 2018

Immunotherapy in cancer has revolutionized cancer treatment and has become a universal answer to the question “how can we treat cancer?” However, checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs), a type of immunotherapy, is associated with a new group of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in almost any organ system. In a recent study published in Nature Reviews Rheumatology, researchers outline these new questions and unmet needs that rheumatologists might be dealing with more. 

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According to the review, treatment of irAEs often requires immunosuppression with glucocorticoids, which are sometimes administered with conventional synthetic or biologic disease-modifying drugs. And although rheumatoid irAEs are not as common as traditional irAEs, they are underdiagnosed and less well recognized which is half of the problem. The review also states that rheumatic irAEs seem to be nosologically distinct, occurring both early and late in response to CPI therapy. To make matters worse, a substantial proportion of them are chronic, persisting even after cessation of CPI therapy. 

“Rheumatologists must be prepared for irAEs and contribute to inter-professional teams in managing immunotherapy for patients with cancer,” the researchers concluded. 

Check out an article on if a specific serum biomarker could positively impact patient survival. 

SOURCE: Nature Reviews Rheumatology 

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