Characteristics of the study population
| All patients (n=180) | IrAE recurrence (n=70) | No irAE recurrence (n=110) | P value | ||||
| Median age, years (IQR) | 66 | (55–72) | 66 | (59–70) | 66 | (54–72) | 0.98 |
| Male gender, n (%) | 110 | (61.1) | 47 | (67.1) | 63 | (57.3) | 0.19 |
| Median BMI (IQR) | 24.4 | (21.8–26.9) | 26.0 | (21.9–27.7) | 23.8 | (21.6–26.6) | –* |
| Missing data, n (%) | 62 | (34.4) | 19 | (27.1) | 43 | (39.1) | |
| Cancer type, n (%) | 0.12 | ||||||
| Melanoma | 79 | (43.9) | 33 | (47.2) | 46 | (41.8) | |
| Lung cancer | 74 | (41.1) | 25 | (35.7) | 49 | (44.6) | |
| Renal cell carcinoma | 11 | (6.1) | 8 | (11.4) | 3 | (2.7) | |
| Lymphoma | 5 | (2.8) | 1 | (1.4) | 4 | (3.6) | |
| Others† | 10 | (5.6) | 3 | (4.3) | 7 | (6.4) | |
| Missing data | 1 | (0.5) | 0 | (0.0) | 1 | (0.9) | |
| Initial ICI type, n (%) | 0.44 | ||||||
| Anti-PD-1 | 142 | (78.9) | 53 | (75.7) | 89 | (80.9) | |
| Anti-PDL-1 | 9 | (5.0) | 5 | (7.1) | 4 | (3.6) | |
| Anti-CTLA-4 | 11 | (6.1) | 3 | (4.3) | 8 | (7.3) | |
| Anti-PD-1+anti-CTLA-4 | 18 | (10.0) | 9 | (12.9) | 9 | (8.2) | |
| Treatment line, n (%) | –* | ||||||
| First-line | 41 | (22.8) | 15 | (21.4) | 26 | (23.6) | |
| Second-line | 67 | (37.2) | 29 | (41.4) | 38 | (34.5) | |
| Third-line | 19 | (10.5) | 9 | (12.9) | 10 | (9.1) | |
| Fourth line and over | 16 | (8.9) | 4 | (5.7) | 12 | (11.0) | |
| Missing data | 37 | (20.6) | 13 | (18.6) | 24 | (21.8) | |
| Median time to first irAE, days (IQR) | 84 | (39–155) | 112 | (50–219) | 63 | (34–135) | 0.01 |
| Missing data, n (%) | 3 | (1.7) | 2 | (2.9) | 1 | (0.9) | |
| Median time to first irAE, treatment cycle (IQR) | 4 | (2.0–9.0) | 5 | (2.0–10.0) | 4 | (2.0–7.5) | 0.27 |
| Missing data, n (%) | 13 | (7.2) | 7 | (10.0) | 6 | (5.5) | |
| Grade of first irAE, n (%) | 0.40 | ||||||
| 2 | 92 | (51.1) | 33 | (47.1) | 59 | (53.6) | |
| 3/4 | 88 | (48.9) | 37 | (52.9) | 51 | (46.4) | |
| Treatment of first irAE, n (%) | |||||||
| Systemic corticosteroids | 98 | (54.4) | 42 | (60.0) | 56 | (50.9) | 0.10 |
| Other immunosuppressant add-on | 9 | (5.0) | 6 | (8.6) | 3 | (2.7) | 0.08 |
| Anti-TNF agent/vedolizumab | 5 | (2.8) | 4 | (5.7) | 1 | (0.9) | |
| Mycophenolate mofetil | 2 | (1.1) | 0 | (0.0) | 2 | (1.8) | |
| Hydroxychloroquine | 1 | (0.5) | 1 | (1.4) | 0 | (0.0) | |
| Methotrexate | 1 | (0.5) | 1 | (1.4) | 0 | (0.0) | |
| Missing data | 4 | (2.2) | 4 | (5.7) | 0 | (0.0) | |
| Reason for ICI rechallenge, n (%) | 0.76 | ||||||
| Continued/maintenance therapy | 156 | (86.7) | 60 | (85.7) | 96 | (87.3) | |
| Progression | 24 | (13.3) | 10 | (14.3) | 14 | (12.7) | |
| Rechallenge of the same ICI or ICI combination, n (%) | 153 | (85.0) | 54 | (77.1) | 99 | (90.0) | 0.02 |
| Median duration from ICI discontinuation to rechallenge, days (IQR) | 56 | (42–84) | 56 | (42–84) | 56 | (42–85) | 0.53 |
*More>20.0% missing data.
†Including urothelial cancer (n=3 (1.7%)), head and neck cancer (n=2 (1.1%)), cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (n=2 (1.1%)), glioblastoma (n=1 (0.5%)), Merkel cell carcinoma (n=1 (0.5%)) and colorectal cancer (n=1 (0.5%)).
BMI, body mass index; CTLA-4, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4; ICI, immune checkpoint inhibitor; irAE, immune related adverse event; PD-1, programmed cell death 1; PDL-1, programmed cell death 1 ligand 1; TNF, tumor necrosis factor.