Shijubou N, Sawai T, Hatakeyama T, Munakata S, Yamazoe M. Alveolar Hemorrhage Caused by the Combination of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs) and Angiogenesis Inhibitors: The Underlying Long-Term Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) Inhibition.
Cureus 2022;
14:e23272. [PMID:
35449623 PMCID:
PMC9012575 DOI:
10.7759/cureus.23272]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and other anticancer agents is the standard of care for various cancers. Bevacizumab, an anti-angiogenesis inhibitor, causes serious adverse events such as pulmonary hemorrhage (PH). Here, we present a case of drug-induced diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH), an adverse event, in a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma who was treated with a combination of ICIs and anti-angiogenesis inhibitors after long-term use of lenvatinib, which inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). An 85-year-old man with hepatocellular carcinoma initially received lenvatinib, a multi-kinase inhibitor, but the drug was later switched to bevacizumab-atezolizumab combination therapy owing to disease progression. After five cycles, he developed dyspnea and diffuse ground-glass opacities, which improved with discontinuation of the combination therapy and initiation of steroid pulse therapy. Our case findings indicate that both ICIs and anti-angiogenesis inhibitors cause drug-induced DAH, and their combination may increase the severity of DAH. Moreover, long-term VEGF inhibition may induce the development of DAH. Clinicians need to be aware that long-term VEGF inhibition may be associated with DAH and should consider the risk management of such adverse events while using this combination therapy.
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