Immuno-related adverse events of checkpoint inhibitors

Drugs, overcoming immunological tolerance, refer to the new direction of management – Immuno-Oncology. The effectiveness of this group of drugs already proved with a number of malignancies such as melanoma of the skin, non-small cell lung cancer, clear cell renal cell cancer, bladder cancer, Merkel cell carcinoma. Treatment with these novel immunotherapies results in a unique and distinct spectrum of adverse events, which are mostly related to activation of the immune system and are, therefore, an unwanted consequence of their mechanisms of action. In this review, the authors describe the adverse event profile of checkpoint inhibitors targeting CTLA-4 and PD-1 based upon the mechanisms of action of these therapies and on the management of these immune-related adverse events.