Abstract
Immunotherapy (IO) is now the standard of care for many tumor types. However, it is not free of risks, being pulmonary toxicity one of the most relevant immune-related adverse event due to its severity. Differential diagnosis with other pulmonary complications such as infections or tumor dissemination further complicates its management. In order to raise awareness, gather information, and to discuss early management strategies in patients (pts) with immune-related interstitial lung disease (irILD), in 2017 we created a multidisciplinary task group comprised of pneumologists, pathologists, oncologists and radiologists. We herein report the main features of the first series of pts treated with IO who subsequently developed ILD, prospectively identified from a tertiary University Hospital over a period of two years (2017-2019), focusing on clinical presentation, radiological patterns, outcomes and therapeutic intervention. We identified a total of 23 pts with suspicion of irILD. Patients mainly received programmed cell death-1 (PD-L1) inhibitors (61%). Main characteristics are summarized in Table 1. ILD occurred more often in males, and former or current smokers (91%), with a median age of 62 years. The most common radiological pattern was the presence of ground-glass opacities (87%), followed by consolidations (61%). Forty-eight percent of the cases had grade 3 severity according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE). Thirteen of the patients (57%) underwent a fibrobronchoscopy during the diagnostic period and a specific microorganism was isolated from BAL in three cases (13%) (Aspergillus fumigatus, cytomegalovirus and herpes type 1 virus). Ten pts (43%) underwent transbronchial biopsies being focal organizing pneumonia and desquamative changes the most common pathological patterns observed. Twenty patients (87%) received prednisone (1mg/kg/day) and thirteen of them (57%) also received antibiotic treatment.Tabled 1Mean age (years)Patients (%)61.63 ± 12.35GenderMale19 (83%)Female4 (17%)Smoking historyCurrent2 (9%)Never7 (30%)Former14 (61%)Type of cancerLung8 (35%)Kidney5 (22%)Skin4 (17%)Others*6 (26%)* Others: haemathologic, bladder, liver, sigma, urothelial, timic.ImmunotherapyNivolumab8 (35%)Pembrolizumab6 (26%)Durvalumab2 (9%)Others*7 (30%)* Others: Atezolizumab, Nivolumab+Ipilimumab, Atezolizumab+Daratumumab, Atezolumab+Bevacizumab, CX-072, Nivolumab/Nivolumab+Ipilipumab, Avelumab. Open table in a new tab * Others: Atezolizumab, Nivolumab+Ipilimumab, Atezolizumab+Daratumumab, Atezolumab+Bevacizumab, CX-072, Nivolumab/Nivolumab+Ipilipumab, Avelumab. Immuno-mediated pulmonary toxicity is a rare but severe complication that carries a significant mortality. Due to their complexity, multidisciplinary approach is required to provide an adequate treatment and to guarantee early intervention.
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