Cited by 177Cancer Immunotherapy and BiomarkersAutoimmune Neurological Disorders and TreatmentsT-cell and B-cell Immunology

A case report of clonal EBV-like memory CD4+ T cell activation in fatal checkpoint inhibitor-induced encephalitis

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Johnson, Douglas B., McDonnell, Wyatt J., Gonzalez-Ericsson, Paula I., Al-Rohil, Rami N., Mobley, Bret C., Salem, Joe-Elie, Wang, Daniel Y., Sanchez, Violeta +25 more·2019·Nature Medicine

Abstract

Checkpoint inhibitors produce durable responses in numerous metastatic cancers, but immune-related adverse events (irAEs) complicate and limit their benefit. IrAEs can affect organ systems idiosyncratically; presentations range from mild and self-limited to fulminant and fatal. The molecular mechanisms underlying irAEs are poorly understood. Here, we report a fatal case of encephalitis arising during anti-programmed cell death receptor 1 therapy in a patient with metastatic melanoma. Histologic analyses revealed robust T cell infiltration and prominent programmed death ligand 1 expression. We identified 209 reported cases in global pharmacovigilance databases (across multiple cancer types) of encephalitis associated with checkpoint inhibitor regimens, with a 19% fatality rate. We performed further analyses from the index case and two additional cases to shed light on this recurrent and fulminant irAE. Spatial and multi-omic analyses pinpointed activated memory CD4+ T cells as highly enriched in the inflamed, affected region. We identified a highly oligoclonal T cell receptor repertoire, which we localized to activated memory cytotoxic (CD45RO+GZMB+Ki67+) CD4 cells. We also identified Epstein-Barr virus-specific T cell receptors and EBV+ lymphocytes in the affected region, which we speculate contributed to neural inflammation in the index case. Collectively, the three cases studied here identify CD4+ and CD8+ T cells as culprits of checkpoint inhibitor-associated immune encephalitis.

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  • CTLA-4 blockade, alone or with anti-PD-1/PD-L1, produces toxicities in a dose-dependent fashion.

    “CTLA-4 blockade (alone or in combination with anti-PD-1/PD-L1) produces toxicities in a dose-dependent fashion.22,23”

    From Endocrine toxicities of immune checkpoint inhibitors (2021) · cites this paper as [23]

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Authors
Johnson, D. B., McDonnell, W. J., Gonzalez-Ericsson, P. I., Al-Rohil, R. N., Mobley, B. C., Salem, J.-E., Wang, D. Y., Sanchez, V., Wang, Y., Chastain, C. A., Barker, K., Liang, Y., Warren, S., Beechem, J. M., Menzies, A. M., Tio, M., Long, G. V., Cohen, J. V., Guidon, A. C., O’Hare, M., Chandra, S., Chowdhary, A., Lebrun-Vignes, B., Goldinger, S. M., Rushing, E. J., Buchbinder, E. I., Mallal, S. A., Shi, C., Xu, Y., Moslehi, J. J., Sanders, M. E., Sosman, J. A., & Balko, J. M.
Affiliations
  • Vanderbilt University (US)
  • Duke Medical Center (US)
  • Vanderbilt University Medical Center (US)
  • Inserm (FR)
  • Nanostring Technologies (United States) (US)
  • The University of Sydney (AU)
  • Melanoma Institute Australia (AU)
  • Massachusetts General Hospital (US)
  • Northwestern University (US)
  • University Hospital Zurich (CH)
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (US)
Corresponding author
  • Johnson, Douglas B.
  • Balko, Justin M.
Venue
Nature Medicine
Published
2019-07-22
Volume
25
Issue
8
Pages
1243-1250
ISSN
  • 1078-8956 (ISSN-L)
  • 1546-170X
OpenAlex
W2964133630
Cited by
176
References
46
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 39 · 2019: 1
FWCI
11.16
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Funders
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (T32HL069765, R01HL141466, K12HL143956, R01HL155990)
  • National Cancer Institute (K23CA204726, R00CA181491, R01CA227481, K12CA090625, P30CA068485, P30CA014236)
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (P30AI110527)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R56DK108352, U24DK059637, R01DK112262)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Autoimmune Neurological Disorders and Treatments
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › T-cell and B-cell Immunology
Keywords
anti-PD-1 therapy, immune-related adverse events, Epstein-Barr virus, memory CD4+ T cells, cytotoxic CD4+ T cells, PD-L1, metastatic melanoma, neuroinflammation, pharmacovigilance
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Encephalitis, Herpesvirus 4, Human, Female, Humans, Immunologic Memory, Lymphocyte Activation, Male, Middle Aged, CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes, Young Adult, Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor

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