Abstract
Background: The incidence and spectrum of infections in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) in combination with a hypomethylating agents (HMAs) is not known. Nivolumab is a PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor approved in many solid tumors and lymphoma. Materials/Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 75 adult patients at MD Anderson Cancer Center with relapsed/refractory AML treated with azacitidine and nivolumab or with nivolumab and ipilimumab from March 2016 through March 2020 and described the infectious complications that occurred during their treatment. Results: Sixty-four (85%) patients developed an infection during the study period, and bacterial infections were by far the most common type of infection. A comparison of risk factors and characteristic between the 75 patients on CPIs who developed infection and those who did not found that corticosteroid use (odds ratio [OR], 28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.6-490; P =.02) and lymphopenia (OR, 4; 95% CI, 1-15.5; P =.04) were significantly associated with infections. Conclusion: Patient with relapsed/refractory AML treated with salvage CPI-based therapy were more likely to develop infections when treated with corticosteroids in the setting of an immune-related adverse event, compared to those who were not.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 305-310 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma and Leukemia |
Volume | 22 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2022 |
Keywords
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors
- Infection
- Ipilimumab
- Leukemia
- Nivolumab
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Hematology
- Oncology
- Cancer Research