Abstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitors are becoming a cornerstone of cancer immunotherapy as a result of their clinical success in relieving immune suppression and driving durable antitumor T cell responses in certain subsets of patients. Unfortunately, checkpoint inhibition is also associated with treatment-related toxicities that result in a myriad of side effects, ranging from mild and manageable to severe and debilitating. In this issue of the JCI, Das and colleagues report an association between early therapy-induced changes in circulating B cells and an increased risk of high-grade immune-related adverse events (IRAEs) in patients treated with checkpoint inhibitors that target cytotoxic T lymphocyte–associated antigen-4 (CTLA4) and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1). These findings identify potential predictive biomarkers for high-grade IRAEs that may be leveraged to improve patient monitoring and may prompt new treatment strategies to prevent IRAEs.
Authors
Shannon M. Liudahl, Lisa M. Coussens
Figure 1
Changes in circulating B cells predict IRAE risk in patients receiving combined anti-CTLA4 and anti-PD1 therapy.
Copyright © 2022 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)