Gastrointestinal treatment-related adverse events of combined immune checkpoint inhibitors: a meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Combined immune checkpoint inhibitors can cause gastrointestinal adverse events. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis of pooled colonic, hepatic and pancreatic treatment-related adverse events of combined ICI. Results: 53 trials reporting treatment-related adverse events in 6581 patients. All grade diarrhea was the most common adverse event seen in 25.4% patients, followed by all grade hepatitis in nearly 13% patients and pancreatitis in nearly 7.5% patients. Conclusion: Our study provides pooled data of treatment-related adverse events from different combination immune checkpoint inhibitors use in solid tumors and demonstrates a high incidence of all grades and ≥3 grade gastrointestinal adverse events. Further studies are required to characterize these adverse events and assess their overall impact on treatment course and outcomes.

The article talks about a type of medicine called immune checkpoint inhibitors that are used to treat cancer. These medicines can sometimes cause problems in the stomach and liver when used in combination with other cancer treatments, which can lead to hospitalization or, rarely, death. We performed a study on 6581 people who took these medicines in combination with another treatment and determined exactly how often these side effects happened. We also looked at which combinations of medicines were safer. This information can help doctors identify the side effects early and treat them. It can also help scientists design more studies to learn more about these side effects and how to prevent them.