Characterization of dermatitis after PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor therapy and association with multiple oncologic outcomes: A retrospective case-control study

Abstract

Cutaneous adverse events are common with programmed death 1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors. However, the nature of the specific cutaneous adverse event of dermatitis has not been investigated across various PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. Oncologic outcomes potentially associated with dermatitis are not well characterized. To assess the nature of dermatitis after exposure to a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor and oncologic outcomes associated with dermatitis. Retrospective, matched, case-control study conducted at a single academic center. The most common histologic patterns were lichenoid dermatitis (50%) and spongiotic dermatitis (40%). The overall tumor response rate was 65.0% for the case patients and 17.0% for the controls (P=.0007) (odds ratio, 7.3; 95% confidence interval, 2.3-23.1). The progression-free survival and overall survival times were significantly longer for the case patients than for the controls by Kaplan-Meier analysis (P<.0001 and .0203, respectively). The retrospective design and relatively small sample size precluded matching for all cancer types. Lichenoid and spongiotic dermatitis associated with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors could be a sign of robust immune response and improved oncologic outcomes. The value of PD-1/PD-L1-related dermatitis in predicting cancer outcomesawaits investigation through prospective multicenter studies for specific cancer types.