Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors May Increase Risk of Serious Infection
Nearly a quarter of patients receiving a variety of drugs classified as immune checkpoint inhibitors develop infections during treatment and 15% are considered severe, researchers reported (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cam4.4393) in study findings published in Cancer Medicine.
Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of data from 111 patients who received nivolumab, pembrolizumab, or ipilimumab as treatment for melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, or non-small cell lung cancer. Of those, 24% developed bacterial infections and nine infections were confirmed with bacterial cultures. Overall, 14% developed serious infections with four confirmed bacterial cultures.
Types of infections included genitourinary (20%), skin or soft tissue (7%), pneumonia (5%), and noninfectious pneumonitis (5%). Infection rates were comparable regardless of the specific immune checkpoint inhibitor used, but use of concurrent steroids was significantly associated with serious infection (75% on steroids compared to 28.4% without steroids).
“The rate of serious infection with immune checkpoint inhibitors was higher in our study compared with previous reports of patients with melanoma,” the researchers concluded (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cam4.4393). “Infectious complications are encountered with immune checkpoint inhibitors and correlate with steroid use.”
ONS Voice offers an overview of evidence-based nursing considerations (https://voice.ons.org/news-and-views/evidence-defines-nursing-implications-for-combination-cancer-treatment-side-effects) for managing adverse events with immune checkpoint inhibitors.