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Review
. 2023 Mar 2;15(3):823.
doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15030823.

Immunotherapy Resumption/Rechallenge in Melanoma Patients after Toxicity: Do We Have Another Chance?

Sofia España Fernandez  1   2 , Chen Sun  3 , Carme Solé-Blanch  2 , Aram Boada  4 , Anna Martínez-Cardús  2 , José Luis Manzano  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Immunotherapy Resumption/Rechallenge in Melanoma Patients after Toxicity: Do We Have Another Chance?

Sofia España Fernandez et al. Pharmaceutics. .

Abstract

Introduction: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have radically changed the prognosis of several neoplasias, among them metastatic melanoma. In the past decade, some of these new drugs have appeared together with a new toxicity spectrum previously unknown to clinicians, until now. A common situation in daily practice is that a patient experiences toxicity due to this type of drug and we need to resume or rechallenge treatment after resolving the adverse event.

Methods: A PubMed literature review was carried out.

Results: The published data regarding the resumption or rechallenge of ICI treatment in melanoma patients is scarce and heterogeneous. Depending on the study reviewed, the recurrence incidence of grade 3-4 immune-related adverse events (irAEs) ranged from 18% to 82%.

Conclusion: It is possible to resume or rechallenge, but each patient should be evaluated by a multidisciplinary team for close monitoring and assessment of the risk/benefit ratio before initiating treatment.

Keywords: immune checkpoints; immunotherapy; rechallenge; resumption; toxicity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The commonest immune-related adverse events.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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