[HTML][HTML] HLA expression correlates to the risk of immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced pneumonitis

P Correale, RE Saladino, D Giannarelli, A Sergi… - Cells, 2020 - mdpi.com
P Correale, RE Saladino, D Giannarelli, A Sergi, MA Mazzei, G Bianco, R Giannicola…
Cells, 2020mdpi.com
Tumor-infiltrating T cell rescue by programmed cell death receptor-1 (PD-1)/PD-1 ligand-1
(PD-L1) immune checkpoint blockade is a recommended treatment for malignant diseases,
including metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (mNSCLC), malignant melanoma (MM),
head and neck, kidney, and urothelial cancer. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against either
PD-1 or PD-L1 are active agents for these patients; however, their use may be complicated
by unpredictable immune-related adverse events (irAEs), including immune-related …
Tumor-infiltrating T cell rescue by programmed cell death receptor-1 (PD-1)/PD-1 ligand-1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint blockade is a recommended treatment for malignant diseases, including metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (mNSCLC), malignant melanoma (MM), head and neck, kidney, and urothelial cancer. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against either PD-1 or PD-L1 are active agents for these patients; however, their use may be complicated by unpredictable immune-related adverse events (irAEs), including immune-related pneumonitis (IRP). We carried out a retrospective multi-institutional statistical analysis to investigate clinical and biological parameters correlated with IRP rate on a cohort of 256 patients who received real-world treatment with PD-1/PD-L1 blocking mAbs. An independent radiological review board detected IRP in 29 patients. We did not find statistical IRP rate correlation with gender, tumor type, specific PD-1 or PD-L1 blocking mAbs, radiation therapy, inflammatory profile, or different irAEs. A higher IRP risk was detected only in mNSCLC patients who received metronomic chemotherapy +/− bevacizumab compared with other treatments prior PD-1/PD-L1 blockade. Moreover, we detected a strong correlation among the IRP rate and germinal expression of HLA-B*35 and DRB1*11, alleles associated to autoimmune diseases. Our findings may have relevant implications in predicting the IRP rate in mNSCLC patients receiving PD-1/PD-L1 blockade and need to be validated on a larger patient series.
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