A 53-year-old female presented to the clinic for severe polyarticular joint pain and was found to have a seronegative inflammatory arthritis. Six months before, she had completed 10 months of treatment for stage IV metastatic melanoma with the immune checkpoint inhibitors, nivolumab and ipilimumab, achieving complete remission of her cancer.
Explore this issue
May 2017She said that throughout her course of immunotherapy treatment she had diffuse aching in her large joints, especially on the days immediately after her infusions, as well as dry eyes and dry mouth. Her course was complicated by several adverse events, including rash and colitis, for which she received prednisone ranging from 20–60 mg daily. By the time she had completed her last infusion of nivolumab, the joint pain and stiffness had spread to the small joints of her hands.
After our evaluation showed synovitis in the small joints of the hands, wrists and knees, she was started on methotrexate and prednisone, with improvement in her arthritis disease activity over several months. Her sicca syndrome remains active, requiring frequent use of replacement eye drops. Her melanoma remains in remission.
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have dramatically changed the face of cancer treatment, and in 2013, Science magazine deemed cancer immunotherapy the “breakthrough of the year.”1 ICIs have shown clinical benefit for the treatment of advanced cancers, including melanoma, non-small/small cell lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, head and neck cancers, and urothelial cell carcinoma.
Ana B Alvarez says
June 19, 2017 at 9:43 amI would love to see more active treatments into Immunodeficiency illnesses like MS. If only the door would open for Stem cell treatment be made more available and not so red tapped… many more people could benefit…