Hematologic Complications of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Authors

Michael H Kroll
Cristhiam Rojas-Hernandez
Cassian Yee

Publication Date

6-23-2022

Journal

Blood

DOI

10.1182/blood.2020009016

PMID

34610113

PMCID

PMC9227102

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

6-23-2022

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Abstract

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a class of antineoplastic therapies that unleash immune cells to kill malignant cells. There are currently 7 medications that have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of 14 solid tumors and 2 hematologic malignancies. These medications commonly cause immune-related adverse effects as a result of overactive T lymphocytes, autoantibody production, and/or cytokine dysregulation. Hematologic toxicities are rare and of uncertain mechanism, and therefore management is often based on experiences with familiar conditions involving these perturbed immune responses, such as autoimmune hemolytic anemia, immune thrombocytopenia, and idiopathic aplastic anemia. Management is challenging because one must attend to the hematologic toxicity while simultaneously attending to the malignancy, with the imperative that effective cancer therapy be maintained or minimally interrupted if possible. The purpose of this review is to help clinicians by providing a clinical and pathophysiological framework in which to view these problems.

Keywords

Anemia, Hemolytic, Autoimmune, Antineoplastic Agents, Hematologic Neoplasms, Humans, Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors, Neoplasms

Published Open-Access

yes

Recommended Citation

Michael H Kroll, Cristhiam Rojas-Hernandez, and Cassian Yee, "Hematologic Complications of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors" (2022). Faculty, Staff and Student Publications. 4148.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/uthgsbs_docs/4148