Immunosuppressed cancer patients on checkpoint inhibitors face higher risk of severe infections

A recent retrospective study from the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute indicates that patients who are heavily immunosuppressed while receiving anticancer immunotherapy face a heightened risk of serious infections. The research focuses on the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), which are known to stimulate antitumor activity but can also trigger adverse effects that necessitate treatment with immunosuppressive drugs.

The investigators found that patients who received ICIs in combination with multiple immunosuppressive therapies were more likely to develop serious infections. Nearly half of these infections were severe, life‑threatening, or fatal. The findings are reported in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

The study demonstrates that patients treated with ICIs and multiple immunosuppressive therapies face a higher risk of serious infections, with almost half of those infections being severe, life‑threatening, or fatal, as published in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.