Toxicity Associated with Pembrolizumab Monotherapy in Patients with Gastrointestinal Cancers: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials
<b>Background/Objectives:</b> Pembrolizumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor targeting programmed death 1 (PD-1), is a widely employed therapy for various gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. We conducted a systematic review of clinical trials investigating pembrolizumab monotherapy in GI cance...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Biomedicines |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/13/1/229 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | <b>Background/Objectives:</b> Pembrolizumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor targeting programmed death 1 (PD-1), is a widely employed therapy for various gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. We conducted a systematic review of clinical trials investigating pembrolizumab monotherapy in GI cancer patients to assess the spectrum and incidence of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) associated with pembrolizumab. <b>Methods:</b> A comprehensive search of PubMed/MEDLINE was performed to identify clinical trials investigating pembrolizumab monotherapy in GI cancer patients. Primary endpoints included the incidence of grade 3 or higher irAEs and the rate of treatment discontinuation due to irAEs. Secondary endpoints encompassed the incidence of any-grade irAEs, as well as specific irAEs. <b>Results:</b> Data extraction and analysis were performed on 25 articles. The analysis included 3101 patients with a median age of 62 years (range 53–68), with 30.2% being female. Tumor types encompassed were colorectal (12%), esophagogastric (46%), hepatocellular carcinoma (24%), and other GI tumor types (18%). The rate of treatment discontinuation due to irAEs was 6.8%. The most prevalent grade 3 or higher irAEs were hepatitis (3.6%), pneumonitis (0.8%), and colitis (0.7%). Death attributed to irAEs was infrequent (0.9%). <b>Conclusions:</b> In patients with GI cancers treated with pembrolizumab monotherapy, severe toxicities are infrequent, and irAEs leading to treatment discontinuation or death are uncommon. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2227-9059 |