Oral and cutaneous immune-related adverse events in cancer patients: Prevalence and overall survival.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the prevalence of cutaneous and oral immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in cancer patients, risk factors for its development, and overall survival (OS).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This retrospective observational study which included 748 medical records of cancer patients who received immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Demographic and clinicopathological characteristics were collected and analyzed.

RESULTS

Most patients were male (59.4%), with stage IV cancer (65%) and received pembrolizumab (46.7%). Four hundred fourteen (55.34%) patients developed cutaneous lesions, 84 (11.2%) developed oral mucosal lesions, and 70 (9.3%) developed xerostomia. The median time for irAEs development was 11 weeks for cutaneous and oral mucosal lesions, and 21.5 weeks for xerostomia. Patients who received PD-1 + CTLA-4 had a higher risk for developing cutaneous irAEs (p = 0.001), while those who underwent ICI and concurrent chemotherapy had a higher risk (p = 0.008) for developing oral mucosal lesions. Patients who presented oral and cutaneous irAEs had better OS than those who did not present (p = 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

Cutaneous effects affected more than half of the patients, while oral effects and xerostomia were found in around 11% and 9% of patients, respectively. Concurrent chemotherapy and PD-1 + CTLA-4 were more associated with oral and cutaneous irAEs, respectively. Patients who developed such irAEs had better overall survival.