Intensive care unit requirements in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors

To determine the proportion of emergency patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) that require critical care admission and their requirements.

Prospective case series.

Analysis of acutely unwell patients treated with ICIs attending a tertiary UK cancer hospital between May 2018 and May 2022. The primary outcome measure was the percentage of patients treated with ICI therapy requiring ICU admission. The secondary outcome measure was whether this need was driven by an immune-mediated toxicity.

Eighteen (1.2%) patients of the 1561 acutely admitted patients treated with ICI therapy required an admission to ICU. Ten (55.5%) patients were admitted due to an immune-mediated toxicity; four due to pneumonitis and four due to myasthenia gravis. Seven of 10 survived their ICU admission with 6 surviving at least 6-month post-ICU discharge.

Only a small minority of emergency admissions in patients treated with ICIs require admission to ICU. This series adds further evidence that patients with organ failure due to immune-mediated toxicity may achieve good outcomes from ICU admission.