Immune-Related Adverse Events of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Manuel Ramos-Casals1, Antoni Sisó-Almirall2

  • 1Department of Autoimmune Diseases, ICMiD, Hospital Clínic, and Department of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain (M.R.).

Annals of Internal Medicine
|February 12, 2024
PubMed

Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are toxicities that arise after the administration of monoclonal antibodies targeting immune checkpoints (immune checkpoint inhibitors [ICIs]) in patients with cancer. They can occur at any time after initiation of ICI treatment, with a broad clinical phenotype that can be organ-specific or systemic. Although most irAEs manifest as mild to moderate signs and symptoms, severe forms of irAEs can lead to irreversible organ failure and have acute life-threatening presentations. Treatment should be tailored to the specific organ involved and the severity. Glucocorticoids are the first-line treatment for most irAEs, with immunosuppressants and biologics mainly used as second-line treatments.

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