Melanoma therapy tied to cutaneous adverse events

Source: Medical Express, March 2016

Shelley Ji Eun Hwang, M.B.B.S., from the University of Sydney, and colleagues reviewed the clinical and histologic information of 82 patients treated with single-agent anti-PD-1 therapy for metastatic melanoma at one institution from May 2012 to February 2015.

The researchers found that 49 percent of patients developed a form of anti-PD-1-associated cutaneous adverse events, including lichenoid reactions and eczema (17 percent), and vitiligo (15 percent). One-quarter of patients were expected to develop their first lichenoid reactions within 8.3 months, and eczema and vitiligo within 10.3 months of therapy. In patients on anti-PD-1 therapy, these adverse events tended to appear together.

“Clinicians need to be aware that immune-related adverse events such as lichenoid reaction, eczema, and vitiligo are common among patients on anti-PD-1 therapy, and they appear late in their treatment," the authors write.