Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 29, 2025
Monitoring PD-1-Blocking Antibodies Bound to T Cells Derived from a Drop of Peripheral Blood
Published on: February 5, 2020
[An overview of immune checkpoint inhibitors toxicities]
Guillaume Rouvet1, Olivier Lambotte1
1Université Paris-Saclay, AP-HP, hôpital Bicêtre, service de médecine interne et d'immunologie clinique, UMR1184, Inserm, CEA, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France.
Abstract:
The development of immune checkpoint inhibitors has led to many breakthroughs in cancer treatment. As their use in many types of cancer expands, oncologists have seen the emergence of a whole new set of adverse events that require specific treatment and attention as they can lead to treatment discontinuation, hospitalization, and death. The molecular pathways targeted by these new pharmaceutical agents aim to remove the inhibition on the anti-tumoral immune response exerted by cancer cells. However, in doing so, they also impact mechanisms important for self-tolerance, and lead to autoimmune-related reactions. Those adverse events can affect every organ, with various frequencies, sometimes a long time after the end of treatment. The following presentation endeavours to list the reported immune adverse events classified by affected organs and gives an overview of the proposed treatment and patient care.
Insights
Immune checkpoint inhibitors offer cancer treatment breakthroughs but can cause serious autoimmune adverse events. This review details these events by organ system and outlines management strategies for patient care.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Immunology
- Pharmacology
Context:
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) represent a significant advancement in cancer therapy.
- Expanding ICI use reveals novel adverse events impacting patient safety and treatment continuity.
- ICIs modulate the immune system to enhance anti-tumor responses, potentially disrupting self-tolerance.
Purpose:
- To catalog immune-related adverse events (irAEs) associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
- To classify irAEs based on the affected organ systems.
- To provide an overview of current treatment and patient care strategies for irAEs.
Summary:
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors, while effective in cancer treatment, can trigger a range of immune-related adverse events (irAEs).
- These irAEs stem from the drugs' mechanism of action, which targets pathways regulating immune self-tolerance.
- Adverse events can manifest across all organ systems, varying in frequency and onset, sometimes occurring post-treatment.
Impact:
- Understanding and managing irAEs is crucial for optimizing cancer treatment with ICIs.
- Prompt recognition and intervention can prevent treatment discontinuation, hospitalization, and mortality.
- This information supports oncologists in providing comprehensive patient care during and after ICI therapy.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:27Tumor Immunotherapy
01:27Cytotoxic T Cells-mediated Immune Response
Immunological surveillance is the ability of immune cells to monitor and eliminate infected cells with intracellular pathogens, neoplastically transformed cells, and cells with non-self antigens. Cytotoxic T cells and NK...
01:26Toxic Reactions: Overview
Toxicity falls into two primary categories: local and systemic.
Local toxicity appears at the exposure site, such as protein denaturation caused by caustic substances.
In contrast, systemic toxicity requires the toxic agent's absorption and distribution,...
01:28Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting: Neurokinin-1 Receptor Antagonists
02:49Cancer Therapies
However, cancer treatments can pose several challenges, as therapies used to kill cancer cells are generally also toxic to normal cells. Moreover, cancer cells mutate rapidly and can develop resistance to chemical agents or radiation therapy. Besides, all types of cancer cells may not respond to the same therapy. Some cancer cells respond to one...