Table 1.
Demographics and baseline characteristics of case reports/series presenting with rheumatic irAE
| Type of rheumatic irAEa | No. of cases | Age, years [median (range)] | Gender (%) | Type of cancer (%) | Type of ICI (%) | Time to symptoms onset after ICI initiation, months [median (range)] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inflammatory polyarthritis | 40 | 64.5 (41–81) | Male (57) | Melanoma (48) | Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 agents, ICI combination (98)b | 3 (0.1–24) |
| RA | 10 | 61.5 (54–80) | Male (50) | Lung cancer (40) | Anti-PD-1 agents (100) | 1 (0.1–5) |
| PsA | 6 | 64.5 (53–72) | Male (50) | Lung cancer (67) | Anti-PD-1 agents (100) | 1.5 (0.5–22) |
| Polymyalgia rheumatica | 24 | 71.5 (50–88) | Male (64) | Melanoma (50) | Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 agents, ICI combination (92) | 3.3 (0.3–16) |
| Myositis | 48 | 68 (36–89) | Male (55) | Melanoma (71) | Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 agents, ICI combination (90) | 1 (0.4–3) |
| Sicca syndrome | 17 | 63 (36–81) | Male (53) | Melanoma (71) | Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 agents, ICI combination (88) | 3.8 (0.5–10) |
| Sarcoidosis | 53 | 57 (26–79) | Male (47) | Melanoma (74) | Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 agents, ICI combination (67) | 4.3 (0.3–45) |
| Vasculitisc | 20 | 53 (31–78) | Male (53) | Melanoma (75) | Anti-PD-1 agents, ICI combination (60) | 3.5 (0.25–18) |
A few other cases with rheumatic irAE were reported including reactive arthritis, undifferentiated oligoarthritis, monoarthritis, undefined cases with inflammatory arthritis, remitting seronegative symmetrical synovitis with pitting oedema, inflammatory tenosynovitis, Jaccoud’s arthropathy, dermatomyositis, antisynthesase syndrome, lupus erythematosus, APS, scleroderma-like syndromes, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and bone abnormalities.
Few patients were receiving anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 in combination with ipilimumab or tremelimumab.
Reported vasculitis types include GCA, aortitis, primary angiitits of the CNS, isolated vasculitic neuropathy, uterine lymphocytic vasculitis, temporal arteritis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and retinal, digital, cryoglobulinaemic, granulomatous, autoimmune, necrotizing, cutaneous small vessels and acral vasculitis. irAE: immune-related adverse events; ICI: immune checkpoint inhibitor; anti-PD-1/PD-L1: anti-programmed cell death-1/anti-programmed cell death-ligand 1.