Immune checkpointty inhibitors (ICIs), particularly those targeting programmed death 1
(PD-1) and anti-programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1), enhance the antitumor effect by
restoring the function of the inhibited effector T cells and produce durable responses in a
large variety of metastatic and late patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. Although often
well tolerated, the activation of the immune system results in side effects known as
immune-related adverse events (irAEs), which can affect multiple organ systems, including
the lungs. The occurrence of severe pulmonary irAEs, especially checkpoint inhibitor
pneumonitis (CIP), is rare but has extremely high mortality and often overlaps with the
respiratory symptoms and imaging of primary tumors. The development of CIP may be
accompanied by radiation pneumonia and infectious pneumonia, leading to the
simultaneous occurrence of a mixture of several types of inflammation in the lungs.
However, there is a lack of authoritative diagnosis, grading criteria and clarified
mechanisms of CIP. In this article, we review the incidence and median time to onset of
CIP in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer treated with PD-1/PD-L1 blockade in
clinical studies. We also summarize the clinical features, potential mechanisms,
management and predictive biomarkers of CIP caused by PD-1/PD-L1 blockade in
non-small-cell lung cancer treatment.
(Articolo completo: Frontiers in Immunology | www.frontiersin.org 2 April 2022 | Volume 13 | Article 830631)
