Prediction and early diagnosis of immune-checkpoint inhibitor-induced inflammatory arthritis from molecular biomarkers – Where are we now?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) works by blocking inhibitory signals of T cells. This produces an effective anti-tumor response but can also cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Most irAEs are transient, but ICI-induced inflammatory arthritis (ICI-IIA) might become chronic and affect the quality-of-life, or even necessitate treatment discontinuation. However, there exist no tools to identify patients that are susceptible to develop ICI-IIA. Areas covered This non-systematic review briefly presents a sparse number of studies, that have tried to identify circulating biomarkers for early prediction of ICI-IIA. Challenges, recommendations, and possibilities related to biomarker discovery in the context of ICI-IIA are then covered. Expert opinion Improved diagnosis adapted from rheumatological settings is needed for future studies to avoid a major pitfall of bad endpoints. Synovial tissue biopsies, omics technologies and particularly integration of multiple omics data is useful when searching for biomarkers of ICI-IIA and can also help unravel underlying biological mechanisms. Future biomarkers could ultimately aid clinical decision making and facilitate early prophylaxis, pave the way for new treatment or even translational models to study autoimmune arthritis.