Acute interstitial nephritis after sequential ipilumumab - nivolumab therapy of metastatic melanoma

The anti-Programmed Death receptor 1 (anti-PD-1) antibodies nivolumab and pembrolizumab are new treatments in metastatic melanoma. Immunotherapies are best known to be responsible for thrombotic microangiopathy. However, immune interstitial nephritis has been described in a patient treated by nivolumab and ipilimumab concomitantly, and three cases of granulomatous interstitial nephritis have been reported with ipilimumab monotherapy. We report herein a case of acute interstitial immune nephritis in a patient treated with nivolumab after ipilimumab for pulmonary metastatic melanoma.

Interstitial nephritis was diagnosed after acute kidney injury following three cycles and was confirmed by kidney biopsy. Kidney injury responded rapidly to prednisolone, which was then gradually reduced. As a follow-up computed tomography scan indicated mixed response, with minimal size progression of a pulmonary nodule, but a significant reduction in the size of the other nodules, nivolumab was reintroduced after renal function improvement. Low-dose corticosteroids were first maintained during nivolumab treatment and subsequently discontinued. Only one month after prednisolone discontinuation, creatinine levels increased. A second kidney biopsy confirmed relapse of acute interstitial nephritis.

To our knowledge, this is the first case of nivolumab-induced acute interstitial immune nephritis. This case highlights that anti-PD-1 immunotherapy may be continued when renal function is adequate, and this requires close interaction between dermatologists and nephrologists. This adverse effect should be made known to prescribers as nivolumab is associated with significant improvement of survival in metastatic melanoma and may be used in many different types of cancer.