Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Associated Pneumonitis in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Current Understanding in Characteristics, Diagnosis, and Management

Overview

Journal Front Immunol

Specialty Allergy & Immunology

Date 2021 Jun 14

PMID 34122422

Citations 48

Authors

Qin Zhang

Liansha Tang

Yuwen Zhou

Wenbo He

Weimin Li

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Immunotherapy that includes programmed cell death-1 (PD-1), programmed cell death- ligand 1 (PD-L1) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitors has revolutionized the therapeutic strategy in multiple malignancies. Although it has achieved significant breakthrough in advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients, immune-related adverse events (irAEs) including checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis (CIP), are widely reported. As the particularly worrisome and potentially lethal form of irAEs, CIP should be attached more importance. Especially in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, the features of CIP may be more complicated on account of the overlapping respiratory signs compromised by primary tumor following immunotherapy. Herein, we included the previous relevant reports and comprehensively summarized the characteristics, diagnosis, and management of CIP. We also discussed the future direction of optimal steroid therapeutic schedule for patients with CIP in NSCLC based on the current evidence.

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