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Updated: Aug 15, 2025

Granulocyte-dependent Autoantibody-induced Skin Blistering
Published on: October 12, 2012
Two rare cases of bullous pemphigoid associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors
Anika Mazumder1, Kavita Darji2, Kristin Smith2
1Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA anika.mazumder@health.slu.edu.
Abstract:
Bullous pemphigoid is a rare and severe adverse reaction to immune-checkpoint inhibitors that can be life-threatening. Here, we present two cases of bullous pemphigoid secondary to nivolumab and ipilimumab+nivolumab therapy, respectively. Both cases presented months after discontinuation of immunotherapy. Our first case highlights the life-threatening nature of bullous pemphigoid due to its potential to cause laryngeal oedema. Our second case illustrates that cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein-4 inhibitors can rarely lead to bullous pemphigoid, in addition to programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) inhibitors. Both cases emphasise the importance of skin examinations and dermatological follow-up for patients during and even after discontinuation of immunotherapy.

