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What the Cardiologist Needs to Know About Cancer Immunotherapies and Complications

  • Cardio-oncology (MG Fradley, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Opinion statement

Immunotherapies have transformed the current landscape for cancer treatment and demonstrated unparalleled improvements in survival rates. Now, a third of cancer patients are eligible for treatment with the most widely used class of immunotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). As more patients are treated with these novel agents, it is critical for both oncologists and subspecialists to establish a better understanding of the adverse events which can occur. The incidence of myocarditis associated with ICI therapy has been reported to be between 0.27 and 1.14%, 5 times that of myocarditis from other cancer therapies, and, of those patients, 20–50% develop a fulminant form. However, because of unclear risk factors, a broad clinical spectrum, and lack of specific noninvasive studies for diagnosis, the care of patients with ICI-associated cardiotoxicity can be challenging. Here, we have provided a brief overview of the current immunotherapy agents with a focus on the emerging evidence regarding diagnosis and management of cardiac adverse events.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Marina Frayberg BS & Anthony Yung MMSc

  2. Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Leyre Zubiri MD PhD & Kerry L Reynolds MD

  3. Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Daniel A Zlotoff MD PhD

Authors
  1. Marina Frayberg BS
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  2. Anthony Yung MMSc
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  3. Leyre Zubiri MD PhD
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  4. Daniel A Zlotoff MD PhD
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  5. Kerry L Reynolds MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kerry L Reynolds MD.

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Conflict of Interest

Marina Frayberg declares that she has no conflict of interest. Anthony Yung declares that he has no conflict of interest. Leyre Zubiri has received compensation from Merck for service as a consultant. Daniel A. Zlotoff declares that he has no conflict of interest. Kerry L. Reynolds declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Disclosures

Marina Frayberg: No relevant disclosures.

Anthony Yung: No relevant disclosures.

Leyre Zubiri: MERCK consultant.

Daniel A Zlotoff: No relevant disclosures.

Kerry L Reynolds: No relevant disclosures.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Cardio-oncology

Marina Frayberg and Anthony Yung contributed equally as authors.

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Frayberg, M., Yung, A., Zubiri, L. et al. What the Cardiologist Needs to Know About Cancer Immunotherapies and Complications. Curr. Treat. Options in Oncol. 22, 53 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11864-021-00844-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11864-021-00844-1

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