Potential mechanisms and treatment progress of immune checkpoint inhibitor-related pneumonitis in non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

Background: Recent use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) extends survival, but immune-related adverse events (irAEs), especially immune checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis (CIP), pose a significant threat, progressing swiftly and impacting patient well-being and, in some cases, survival. Objectives: This review aims to analyze the literature related to immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated pneumonia in terms of potential mechanisms, risk factors, predictors and diagnostic treatment, so as to provide a reference for preclinical studies and clinical management. Methods: Using the literature summarizing method, the keywords "NSCLC" and “immune checkpoint inhibitors” were entered in PUBMED (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/), and 3968 papers were obtained. The main points of literature discovery are obtained by compressing, categorizing and summarizing literature for reporting. Results: We systematically summarized Checkpoint inhibitor-associated pneumonia incidence and onset time; Checkpoint inhibitor-associated pneumonia potential mechanisms; Risk factors for checkpoint inhibitor-associated pneumonia; Checkpoint inhibitor-associated pneumonia potential predictors; Diagnosis and treatment of checkpoint inhibitor-associated pneumonia. Together, this review provides important literature information to understand the relationship between ICIs and NSCLC. Conclusions: We summarized the potential mechanisms of immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated pneumonia in NSCLC and advances in treatment, and provided the reference for related research and related personnel.