Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jun 23;22(13):6716.
doi: 10.3390/ijms22136716.

Neurological Immunotoxicity from Cancer Treatment

Sarah F Wesley  1 , Aya Haggiagi  2 , Kiran T Thakur  3 , Philip L De Jager  1
Affiliations
Review

Neurological Immunotoxicity from Cancer Treatment

Sarah F Wesley et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

The emergence of immune-based treatments for cancer has led to a growing field dedicated to understanding and managing iatrogenic immunotoxicities that arise from these agents. Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) can develop as isolated events or as toxicities affecting multiple body systems. In particular, this review details the neurological irAEs from immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapies. The recognition and treatment of neurological irAEs has variable success, depending on the severity and nature of the neurological involvement. Understanding the involved mechanisms, predicting those at higher risk for irAEs, and establishing safety parameters for resuming cancer immunotherapies after irAEs are all important fields of ongoing research.

Keywords: checkpoint inhibitors; chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies; immune-related adverse events; neurotoxicity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Ipilimumab prevents negative T cell co-receptor CTLA-4 interaction with B7 on APCs, allowing for T cell proliferation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Robert C. A decade of immune-checkpoint inhibitors in cancer therapy. Nat. Commun. 2020;11:3801. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17670-y. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schubert M.L., Schmitt M., Wang L., Ramos C.A., Jordan K., Tidow C.-M., Dreger P. Side-effect management of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. Ann. Oncol. 2021;32:34–48. doi: 10.1016/j.annonc.2020.10.478. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ramos-Casals M., Brahmer J.R., Callahan M.K., Flores-Chávez A., Keegan N., Khamashta M.A., Lambotte O., Mariette X., Prat A., Suárez-Almazor M.E. Immune-related adverse events of checkpoint inhibitors. Nat. Rev. Dis. Primers. 2020;6:38. doi: 10.1038/s41572-020-0160-6. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Santomasso B., Bachier C., Westin J., Rezvani K., Shpall E.J. The Other Side of CAR T-Cell Therapy: Cytokine Release Syndrome, Neurologic Toxicity, and Financial Burden. Am. Soc. Clin. Oncol. Educ. Book. 2019;39:433–444. doi: 10.1200/EDBK_238691. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gettings E.J., Hackett C.T., Scott T.F. Severe relapse in a multiple sclerosis patient associated with ipilimumab treatment of melanoma: Clinical and Laboratory Research. Mult. Scler. J. 2015;21:670. doi: 10.1177/1352458514549403. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms