Pembrolizumab induced type 1 diabetes mellitus in a patient with metastatic melanoma and literature review on steroids as a treatment option.

OBJECTIVE: We report a case of a 77-year-old male with metastatic melanoma who developed immune-checkpoint-inhibitor (ICI) induced type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) after seven months of pembrolizumab treatment and required life-long insulin use. This prompted a literature review of best practice guidelines for long-term management of checkpoint-inhibitor induced T1DM including oral steroids as a treatment option similar to other ICI adverse effects. DATA SOURCES AND SUMMARY: A literature search on PubMed was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of steroid treatment ICI-induced T1DM in any cancer type. Search terms consisted of "ipilimumab" OR "nivolumab" OR & "pembrolizumab" OR "immune checkpoint" AND "diabetes" OR "type 1 diabetes" AND "cancer" OR "melanoma" OR "carcinoma OR "sarcoma". Inclusion criteria were case reports published after 2015 in which the patient was diagnosed with ICI-induced T1DM or diabetic ketoacidosis where oral steroids were part of the treatment. Exclusion criteria included oral steroids not used as a treatment modality for T1DM, multiple endocrine comorbidities, no response recorded, and previous history of T1DM. 284 abstracts were found with these search terms of which 33 full-text articles were concluded to be eligible and screened and from which 8 records were included. From these 8 articles, there were 12 cases included. CONCLUSION: This literature search suggests that ICI-induced T1DM cannot be reversed by steroids and that insulin must be used permanently for treatment management.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Dermatology Research Fellowship Funding.

Dermatology is a competitive field for applicants pursuing a residency, and many applicants turn to dedicated research years to try and increase their competitiveness. Our study aimed to determine the financial costs of a research year and uncover how the costs of a research year vary for different demographic groups. We administered an anonymous survey through various dermatology listservs and social media platforms to prior, current, and future dermatology applicants who had completed a research fellowship during or after medical school. We found the median total fellowship cost ($26,443.20) was higher than the median fellowship income ($23,625.00). Furthermore, we found minority respondents had significantly lower total income, lower fellowship income, and higher net fellowship cost (p<0.05). Ninety participants completed surveys, and over half reported their research year as financially stressful. The majority did state that if given the opportunity, they would choose to do their research year again. Given the overall high costs of research years and the disparity in funding of these years, steps should be taken to address the disparities in fellowship funding or de-emphasize the importance of research fellowships in the dermatology residency selection process.