ABSTRACT
Aims: Our study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) in predicting immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in solid tumor patients receiving immunotherapy. Patients & methods/materials: The CCI score at the time of initiation of immunotherapy was calculated in 164 solid tumor patients receiving immunotherapy and the correlation between the CCI score and immune toxicity was evaluated. Results: A significant relationship was found between CCI score and irAEs in lung cancer and renal cell cancer patients. In malignant melanoma, no significant relationship was found between the CCI score and the occurrence of irAEs. Conclusion: We argue that CCI can be used to predict irAEs, but we believe that a specific comorbidity index that includes autoimmune diseases should be developed.
The aim of our study was to find a scale that can predict which patients are most likely to develop side effects of immunotherapy drugs, which work by stimulating the immune system. We evaluated whether the Charlson Comorbidity Index a scale which already exists to predict the mortality of patients with serious conditions was able to predict whether people with cancer experienced negative side effects from immunotherapy drugs. We found that it may be useful to predict these negative reactions in patients receiving immunotherapy to treat lung and kidney cancer. This means that the Charlson Comorbidity Index might be useful for patients with these types of cancers, to help predict whether they will experience negative side effects. This could help doctors and patients to take better precautions and be more prepared in the event that these side effects do occur.
