Immune-related acute and lymphocytic gastritis in a patient with metastatic melanoma treated with pembrolizumab immunotherapy

Immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated gastritis: Patterns and management

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are widely used due to their effectiveness in treating various tumors. Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are defined as adverse effects resulting from ICI treatment. Gastrointestinal irAEs are a common type of irAEs characterized by intestinal side effects, such as diarrhea and colitis, which may lead to the cessation of ICIs. Although irAE gastritis is rarely reported, it may lead to serious complications such as gastrorrhagia. Furthermore, irAE gastritis is often difficult to identify early due to its diverse symptoms. Although steroid hormones and immunosuppressants are commonly used to reverse irAEs, the best regimen and dosage for irAE gastritis remains uncertain. In addition, the risk of recurrence of irAE gastritis after the reuse of ICIs should be considered. In this editorial, strategies such as early identification, pathological diagnosis, management interventions, and immunotherapy rechallenge are discussed to enable clinicians to better manage irAE gastritis and improve the prognosis of these patients.

Clinical characteristics, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of nivolumab induced gastritis

Gastritis has recently been reported to be associated with nivolumab, and the clinical characteristics of nivolumab induced gastritis remain unclear. To explore the clinical characteristics of nivolumab induced gastritis, and to provide reference for the classification and treatment guidelines of immune checkpoint inhibitors -related gastritis. Case reports, case series, and clinical studies of nivolumab induced gastritis were retrospectively analyzed by searching the database from the establishment of the database until September 30, 2023. Forty-seven were included, with a median age of 57 years (range 16, 93). The median time of symptom onset was 6 months (range 0.5,36) and 6.5 cycles (range 2, 62). Nausea (29 cases, 61.7%), vomiting (29 cases, 61.7%), and epigastric pain (28 cases, 59.6%) were the most common complaints. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy mainly showed erythema (28 cases, 59.6%). Gastric mucosa biopsy showed epithelial inflammatory cell infiltration (22 cases, 46.8%) and apoptosis (15 cases, 31.9%). Most patients' symptoms and gastric mucosa improved or recovered after receiving systemic steroid and proton pump inhibitor therapy regardless of whether nivolumab was discontinued. Two patients died from gastritis related events. Gastritis should be considered as the cause of unexplained epigastric symptoms in the administration of nivolumab. Understanding the clinical features of nivolumab induced gastritis is very important for accurate diagnosis and timely management of these patients.

Immune-mediated Gastritis in a Patient with metastatic Lung Cancer due to Therapy with the immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Pembrolizumab - Differences and Similarities in Comparison to "endogenous" autoimmune Type A Gastritis and a review of literature

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are increasingly used in advanced malignant diseases and are well-known for their good results. With the blockade of immune checkpoints, the probability of immune-related adverse events is also increased.We present a 54-year-old female patient with advanced NSCLC. She was treated with pembrolizumab and developed a stable disease under therapy. After six cycles, she presented with massive epigastric pain to our emergency department. Gastroscopy showed severe erosive-fibrinous pangastritis without the involvement of the esophagus, duodenum, or other immune-related adverse effects. Histology showed the complete destruction of the gastric mucosa. We concluded an immune-mediated gastritis by pembrolizumab, after the exclusion of other differential diagnoses.Despite treatment with prednisolone and marked improvement of her symptoms, the mucosa was never fully reconstituted into a healthy mucosa.Furthermore, we collected published reports of similar cases and conducted a comparison with features of a typical, endogenous type A gastritis to highlight similarities and differences.

An unusual case of immune-related gastritis in one patient receiving toripalimab therapy

PD-1 inhibitors contribute to immune response against malignancies. These drugs also result in serial side effects. Here the authors report a case of immune-related gastritis induced by PD-1 inhibitor. A female with metastatic lung cancer developed severe epigastric pain and acid reflux during treatment with toripalimab. She underwent several gastroscopies, which showed progressively worse gastritis. After discontinuing toripalimab, those symptoms were resolved. This rare report highlights gastritis associated with toripalimab, describes the symptoms and histology features and records the progression of this side effect and the corresponding treatment. Based on the improvement after toripalimab withdrawal, the authors believed that she had autoimmune gastritis caused by toripalimab. This case reminds us that correct diagnosis and proper management are critical to patients undergoing treatment with PD-1 inhibitors.

Gastritis as an immunotherapy-related toxicity in the treatment of endometrial cancer: a case report

Gastritis related to immunotherapy use is a less commonly reported adverse effect. With increasing use of immunotherapy agents in the management of patients with endometrial cancer, even rare adverse effects are being seen more frequently in gynecologic oncology practice. A 66-year-old with recurrent mismatch repair deficient endometrial cancer was treated with single-agent pembrolizumab. She initially appeared to tolerate treatment well; however after 16 months of therapy she began to develop nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain that resulted in 30-pound weight loss. Pembrolizumab was held out of concern for immunotherapy related toxicity. She underwent evaluation with gastroenterology including esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) with biopsy that demonstrated severe lymphocytic gastritis. She was treated with IV methylprednisolone with improvement in symptoms over three days. She was then transitioned to oral prednisone at 60 mg daily with weekly taper by 10 mg, with a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) and carafate until resolution of symptoms. She subsequently had a follow up EGD with biopsy, which demonstrated resolving gastritis. She is presently doing well off of steroids with stable disease noted on her last scan after cessation of pembrolizumab.

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Gastritis Associated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: Scoping Review

Among immune-related adverse events associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, immune-mediated gastritis (IMG) has been rarely described in the literature and has not yet been well characterized. This scoping review aimed to characterize IMG in terms of precipitating agents, clinical presentations, and prognosis. After the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews, we searched MEDLINE and EMBASE for all peer-reviewed articles using keywords including "gastritis," "immune checkpoint inhibitor," and "immune-related adverse event" from their inception to December 28, 2021. Twenty-two articles, including 5 observational studies and 17 case reports and case series, were included. Nivolumab, pembrolizumab, and combination therapy with those and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 inhibitor (ipilimumab) were commonly used in those with IMG. 59.8% had epigastric pain, and 50% had erosive gastritis. 87.5% had Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) grade 3 gastritis, and 91.2% received corticosteroids. Recurrence was noted in 16.7%, and only 1 expiration was noted. 4.3% had positive helicobacter pylori and cytomegalovirus from the gastric specimen. Similar to immune-related colitis, patients with IMG may have a favorable prognosis with a better response to immune checkpoint inhibitors if treated appropriately. The diagnosis of IMG is made by exclusion, and a thorough workup is necessary to rule out concurrent helicobacter pylori and cytomegalovirus involvement. Further studies are critical for a better understanding of this complication.

Temporal observation of endoscopic and histological findings of gastritis after administration of an immune checkpoint inhibitor: a case report

A 71-year-old Japanese man was treated with 200 mg of pembrolizumab for lung adenocarcinoma with multiple bone metastases at the Department of Respiratory Medicine of Kameda General Hospital. After 19 treatment courses, he complained of epigastric pain before meals. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed multiple erosions in the gastric antrum, and antacids were administered at follow-up. After 27 treatment courses, the patient underwent another endoscopy because of anorexia. The erosions were enlarged and had increased from the gastric antrum to the greater curvature of the body. Histological biopsy showed lymphocytic infiltration with a predominance of CD8-positive T cells. The patient had previously been treated for Helicobacter pylori infection, and we suspected drug-induced gastritis due to the administration of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the course of the disease. Pembrolizumab was discontinued, and the patient’s symptoms gradually improved. Endoscopic examinations were performed 2, 5, and 9 months after discontinuation of pembrolizumab, and improvement in mucosal findings and decreased lymphocyte infiltration were confirmed each time. The patient has remained without any relapse of symptoms for more than 1 year after discontinuing treatment.

Immunotherapy-related gastritis: Two case reports and literature review

Immunotherapy is increasingly defining a role in a wide variety of tumours such that as use becomes more ubiquitous, so too will the complications. A relatively rare complication of immunotherapy use is immune-related gastritis. In this case series, we present two cases of immunotherapy-related gastritis from our institution and undertake a comprehensive review and analysis of the literature around this less common adverse event.

A case of immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated gastroenteritis detected by ultrasonography

While immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have antitumor effects, they also have characteristic side effects, including colitis. However, gastritis has rarely been reported. We report a case of a patient with lung adenocarcinoma who presented with epigastric pain and diarrhea following pembrolizumab administration. Sonography of the abdomen demonstrated diffuse, although mild, gastric wall thickening (mainly in the submucosa), as well as a slight decrease in echogenicity throughout the gastric wall. While the mucosal surface was relatively smooth, color Doppler examination showed increased vascularity. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy and pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of ICI-related gastroenteritis.

Immunotherapy induced enterocolitis and gastritis - What to do and when?

Oncological treatment has been revolutionised by the advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPi), which block inhibitory immune pathways to enhance anti-tumour responses and improve survival. This mode of action is non-specific so can cause immune-related adverse events, of which diarrhoea and enterocolitis are amongst the most common. ICPi-enterocolitis frequently leads to cancer therapy interruption. ICPi-gastritis typically occurs at a later stage of ICPi therapy and can present more insidiously with nausea and vomiting. ICPi-enterocolitis and gastritis are treated with corticosteroids, with refractory cases typically requiring biologic therapy. This review will briefly consider the pathogenesis of ICPi-induced GI disease, before focussing on the practical management of these conditions. The anticipated global increase in ICPi use across cancer types highlights the importance of prospective research in order that we can understand the immuno-microbiology of ICPi-enterocolitis and gastritis. This will lead to predictive biomarkers and help to define optimal treatment regimens.

Severe gastritis due to pembrolizumab treatment in a lung cancer patient

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are known to induce gastrointestinal adverse events. Colitis occurs most frequently, and gastritis is less common. A few case reports of gastritis induced by ICIs have indicated that colitis induced by cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) resembles inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and that programmed death-1/programmed death ligand-1 (PD-1/PD-L1) inhibitor can also induce the same type of colitis. We herein encountered a case of gastritis arising after 25 cycles of pembrolizumab administration in which the pathological and endoscopic findings resembled those of IBD. ICIs may induce gastritis in a manner similar to the pathogenesis of IBD.