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Immune-Related Oral, Otologic, and Ocular Adverse Events

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Book cover Immunotherapy

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1244))

Abstract

Emerging immunotherapy agents, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, have shown remarkable promise in the treatment of various malignancies. These drugs selectively target different steps in the immune response cascade to upregulate the body’s normal response to cancer. Due to the novelty of these therapeutic agents, their toxicity profile is less well understood.

Meta-analysis results reveal that the overall prevalence of oral mucositis, stomatitis, and xerostomia is lower with checkpoint inhibitors compared to conventional chemotherapy, and head and neck radiation therapy. However, the widespread use of immunotherapy reveals new oral mucosal barrier adverse events, including bullous pemphigoid, mucous membrane pemphigoid, and lichenoid mucositis. Audiovestibular dysfunction can occur from autoimmune-mediated pathways of immunotherapy (adoptive cell) with limited treatment options. Such auditory complications can lead to speech recognition deficits and sensorineural hearing loss. Ocular toxicities are among the most common adverse events resulting from the use of these agents. The majority of ocular immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are mild, low-grade, non-sight threatening, such as blurred vision, conjunctivitis, and ocular surface disease. Serious and sight-threatening events, including corneal perforation, optic neuropathy, and retinal vascular occlusion, can occur but are infrequent. In this chapter, we review the current evidence on the clinical manifestations of oral, audiovestibular, and ocular immune-related adverse events (i.e., irAEs).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Surgery, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Akanksha Srivastava, Nagham Al-Zubidi, Eric Appelbaum, Dan S. Gombos, Marc-Elie Nader, Paul W. Gidley & Mark S. Chambers

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  1. Akanksha Srivastava
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  2. Nagham Al-Zubidi
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Correspondence to Mark S. Chambers .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, TX, USA

    Aung Naing

  2. Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX, USA

    Joud Hajjar

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Srivastava, A. et al. (2020). Immune-Related Oral, Otologic, and Ocular Adverse Events. In: Naing, A., Hajjar, J. (eds) Immunotherapy. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1244. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41008-7_17

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