Cited by 157Cancer Immunotherapy and BiomarkersPharmacovigilance and Adverse Drug ReactionsDrug-Induced Adverse Reactions

Lessons to be learnt from real-world studies on immune-related adverse events with checkpoint inhibitors: a clinical perspective from pharmacovigilance

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Raschi, Emanuel, Gatti, Milo, Gelsomino, Francesco, Ardizzoni, Andrea, Poluzzi, Elisabetta, De Ponti, Fabrizio·2020·Targeted Oncology

Abstract

The advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) caused a paradigm shift both in drug development and clinical practice; however, by virtue of their mechanism of action, the excessively activated immune system results in a multitude of off-target toxicities, the so-called immune-related adverse events (irAEs), requiring new skills for timely diagnosis and a multidisciplinary approach to successfully manage the patients. In the recent past, a plethora of large-scale pharmacovigilance analyses have characterized various irAEs in terms of spectrum and clinical features in the real world. This review aims to summarize and critically appraise the current landscape of pharmacovigilance studies, thus deriving take-home messages for oncologists. A brief primer to study design, conduction, and data interpretation is also offered. As of February 2020, 30 real-world postmarketing studies have characterized multiple irAEs through international spontaneous reporting systems, namely WHO Vigibase and the US FDA Adverse Event Reporting System. The majority of studies investigated a single irAE and provided new epidemiological evidence about class-specific patterns of irAEs (i.e. anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 [CTLA-4] versus anti-programmed cell death 1 [PD-1] receptor, and its ligand [PD-L1]), kinetics of appearance, co-occurrences (overlap) among irAEs, and fatality rate. Oncologists should be aware of both strengths and limitations of these pharmacovigilance analyses, especially in terms of data interpretation. Optimal management (including rechallenge), predictivity of irAEs (as potential biomarkers of effectiveness), and comparative safety of ICIs (also in terms of combination regimens) represent key research priorities for next-generation real-world studies.

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Authors
Raschi, E., Gatti, M., Gelsomino, F., Ardizzoni, A., Poluzzi, E., & De Ponti, F.
Affiliations
  • University of Bologna (IT)
  • IRCCS Azienda Ospedliero-Universitaria di Bologna Policlinico di Sant'Orsola (IT)
Corresponding author
Raschi, Emanuel
Venue
Targeted Oncology
Published
2020-07-28
Volume
15
Issue
4
Pages
449-466
ISSN
  • 1776-2596 (ISSN-L)
  • 1776-260X
OpenAlex
W3046013618
Cited by
157
References
103
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 3
FWCI
2.25
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Targeted Oncology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Archivio istituzionale della ricerca (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
  • Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Toxicology › Pharmacovigilance and Adverse Drug Reactions
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Drug-Induced Adverse Reactions
Keywords
immune-related adverse events, immune checkpoint inhibitors, pharmacovigilance, real-world evidence, spontaneous adverse event reporting, CTLA-4 inhibitors, PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, irAE management, drug rechallenge, treatment response biomarkers
MeSH terms
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors, Humans, Pharmacovigilance

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