[Adverse events of immune checkpoint inhibitors and their treatment]

Therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPis) has become widespread in medical oncology, becoming part of the routine treatment for various malignancies. These antibodies induce an anti-cancer immune activation by blocking the natural immunosuppression, which is supposed to protect the human body's healthy cells from destruction by the immune system, caused also by cancers, and as a result, allow the immune system to take part in destroying malignant cells. However, the immune activation created by these molecules is not selective against cancer tissues, therefore adverse events associated to these therapies are similar to the signs and symptoms of autoimmune diseases. Common adverse events affect the skin, liver, lungs, gastrointestinal and endocrine systems, less frequently the heart and the nervous system, occasionally causing life-threatening complications. Therapy of these adverse events requires rapid diagnosis and adequate treatment in the form of various immunosuppressants.