Cited by 169Cancer Immunotherapy and BiomarkersThyroid Disorders and TreatmentsAutoimmune Neurological Disorders and Treatments

Clinical Features of Nivolumab-Induced Thyroiditis: A Case Series Study

Yamauchi, Ichiro, Sakane, Yoriko, Fukuda, Yorihide, Fujii, Toshihito, Taura, Daisuke, Hirata, Masakazu, Hirota, Keisho, Ueda, Yohei +6 more·2017·Thyroid

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) pathway is a novel therapeutic target in immune checkpoint therapy for cancer. It consists of the PD-1 receptor and its two ligands, programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and programmed death-ligand 2 (PD-L2). Nivolumab is an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody approved for malignant melanoma, advanced non-small cell lung cancer, and advanced renal cell carcinoma in Japan. Thyrotoxicosis and hypothyroidism have both been reported in international Phase 3 studies and national post-marketing surveillance of nivolumab in Japan. METHODS: This study analyzed five consecutive cases with thyroid dysfunction associated with nivolumab therapy. Second, it examined the mRNA and protein expressions of PD-L1 and PD-L2 by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. RESULTS: All patients were diagnosed with painless thyroiditis. Thyrotoxicosis developed within four weeks from the first administration of nivolumab and normalized within four weeks of onset in three of the five patients. Hypothyroidism after transient thyrotoxicosis developed in two patients, and preexisting hypothyroidism persisted in one patient. The other two patients were treated with glucocorticoids and discontinued nivolumab therapy for comorbid adverse events. One did not develop hypothyroidism, and the other developed mild, transient hypothyroidism. In addition, it was verified that normal thyroid tissue expresses PD-L1 and PD-L2 mRNA and those proteins. CONCLUSIONS: In the present cases, nivolumab-induced thyrotoxicosis seemed to be associated with painless thyroiditis, while no patient with Graves' disease was observed. A transient and rapid course with subsequent hypothyroidism was observed in nivolumab-induced thyroiditis. In addition, it was verified that PD-L1 and PD-L2 are expressed in normal thyroid tissue. This suggests that nivolumab therapy reduces immune tolerance, even in normal thyroid tissue, and leads to the development of thyroiditis. Treating thyrotoxicosis with only supportive care and considering levothyroxine replacement therapy once subsequent hypothyroidism occurs is proposed. Further investigations are required to confirm whether glucocorticoid therapy and discontinuation of nivolumab therapy prevent subsequent hypothyroidism.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1089/thy.2016.0562

Cites

39 of 39 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Yamauchi, I., Sakane, Y., Fukuda, Y., Fujii, T., Taura, D., Hirata, M., Hirota, K., Ueda, Y., Kanai, Y., Yamashita, Y., Kondo, E., Sone, M., Yasoda, A., & Inagaki, N.
Affiliations
Kyoto University (JP)
Corresponding author
Yamauchi, Ichiro
Venue
Thyroid
Published
2017-07
Volume
27
Issue
7
Pages
894-901
ISSN
  • 1050-7256 (ISSN-L)
  • 1557-9077
OpenAlex
W2619530510
Cited by
169
References
39
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 7
FWCI
8.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Thyroid (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Thyroid Disorders and Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Autoimmune Neurological Disorders and Treatments
Keywords
nivolumab, immune-related adverse events, thyroiditis, thyrotoxicosis, hypothyroidism, painless thyroiditis, PD-1 pathway, PD-L1, PD-L2, immune tolerance, glucocorticoid therapy, levothyroxine replacement
MeSH terms
Nivolumab, Aged, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Antineoplastic Agents, Breast Neoplasms, Female, Humans, Lung Neoplasms, Male, Melanoma, Middle Aged, Skin Neoplasms, Thyroiditis, Thyrotoxicosis, Thyrotropin, Thyroxine, Triiodothyronine, Symptom Assessment

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review