Real world data of safety of immune-checkpoint inhibitors in patient with cancer at tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

e24104 Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) become an integral part of many cancer therapies, such as melanoma, esophageal carcinoma, breast cancer and other malignancies. Immune checkpoint inhibitors work by activation the immune system that blocks negative regulators expressed on immune or tumor cells. Accordingly, the mechanism of action of ICI may cause autoimmunity-like symptoms called immune-related adverse events (irAEs) that affect many organs in body like skin, liver, lung, endocrine and gastrointestinal tract. These irAEs may reduce the organ function, quality of life and it may cause death. The present work addressed the knowledge gap in understanding real-world outcomes of irAEs associated with ICIs. Real-world patients are more diverse than clinical trial. Methods: This retrospective cohort study investigated the use of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy in an oncology and hematology patients treated at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC) comprehensive cancer center between February 2021 and February 2023. Adult patients (≥ 18 years old) diagnosed with any malignancy or hematological disorder who received at least one dose of ICI therapy during the study period have been included. Patients younger than 18 years old have been excluded. Demographic, clinical, and treatment data have been extracted from the electronic medical records (EMR). The study protocol has been reviewed and approved by the KFMC Institutional Review Board (IRB). The trial still undergoing not yet finished. Results: A total of 44 patients were included by the time preliminary data analysis was conducted on January 1st, 2024. All Patient included were receiving Pembrolizumab 44 patients. In regards to demographics, 27 (61.4%) of the patients were female. Breast cancer was the most common diagnosis (34.1%), followed by non-small cell lung cancer (22.7%). Among patients undergoing ICI, 34.1% had at least one Emergency Room (ER) visit. Notably, 25% of these patients had 1-2 ER visits. The most common reason for ER visits was patient complaints of GI toxicity related to ICI, including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea (colitis). 12 (26.8%) patients required hospitalization, and 9 (20.5%) stayed for more than seven days.The time to first adverse event of ICI therapy was most commonly seen after nine weeks in 8 (18.2%) patients. Hypothyroidism was the most common adverse event (11.4%), followed by gastrointestinal toxicity (6.8%). Skin, grade 2 hepatotoxicity, and renal toxicity were also reported in 1 (2.3%) patient respectively. Conclusions: Overall, this initial analysis suggests that while ICI known to offers promising potential, it also carries the risk of various adverse events, including a significant rate of ER visits and hospitalizations. Further investigation with larger patient cohorts is warranted to confirm these findings and optimize IO therapy management.