Immune checkpoint inhibitors effectively treat malignancy in ways that were not possible just a few years ago, but immune-related adverse events are a potential side effect.
Duration & Treatment of Musculoskeletal Symptoms of Immunotherapy-Induced Arthritis
A new case series outlines the treatment and duration of symptoms of 10 patients experiencing the musculoskeletal manifestations of immune-related adverse events. Researchers found these symptoms may last for more than a year, but can generally be treated with low to moderate doses of corticosteroids…
Advances in Precision Immunology Require Precision Controls to Further Research
CHICAGO—During the 2017 annual Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) meeting, a session focused on precision immunology and its advances. Precision immunology describes the identification of host, immune system and tumor factors that can be used to select an immunotherapy approach. Thus, the first step in precision immunology is to identify soluble factors, immune cell…
The Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Unleashed to Fight Cancer
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. She said that throughout her…
Complex Treatment: Cancer, Immunotherapy & Rheumatic Disease
Some cancer patients taking immune checkpoint inhibitors experience immune-related adverse events. Laura C. Cappelli, MD, MHS, says rheumatologists are natural partners with oncologists to treat this patient population…
Immune-Related Adverse Events with Use of Checkpoint Inhibitors for Immunotherapy of Cancer
Introduction: Major advances in the past two decades have enhanced our understanding of the complex interactions between the immune system and cancer cells and their environment. Genetic and epigenetic alterations in tumor cells result in the expression of diverse antigens that can elicit an immune response, primarily mediated by T cells. Immune responses are regulated…
Nanomedicines May Reset the Immune System to Treat Disease
New research examines how nanomedicines may be able to reprogram disease-causing white blood cells, a process that may reset the immune system to a healthy state and enable targeted treatments for many autoimmune diseases…
Immunotherapy Largely Untested in Patients with Autoimmune Disease
(Reuters Health)—The safety and effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy is largely unknown in patients with autoimmune diseases, researchers say—and that might account for up to a quarter of individuals with lung cancer. Patients with autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis or psoriasis, have been mostly excluded from clinical trials testing immunotherapies over fears that…
Immunotherapy May Be Effective for Some Patients with Autoimmune Cerebellar Ataxia
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Immunotherapy appears to yield neurological improvements in some patients with autoimmune cerebellar ataxia, especially those with nonparaneoplastic disorders, researchers report. “I was surprised that so many patients responded to immunotherapy (steroids, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), and plasma exchange) and remained ambulatory,” Dr. Andrew McKeon from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., told Reuters Health…