Exacerbation of psoriasis induced by Nivolumab in a patient with stage IIIc gastric adenocarcinoma: A case report and literature review

J Transl Autoimmun. 2023 Feb 15:6:100193. doi: 10.1016/j.jtauto.2023.100193. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Nivolumab, the programmed cell death 1 inhibitor, is a kind of immune checkpoint inhibitor commonly used to treat advanced cancers. Unfortunately, such drugs often induce various immune-related adverse events involving different body systems, with psoriasis being one of the skin toxicities. We report the clinical features of an exacerbated psoriasis induced by using nivolumab after three days in a patient with stage IIIc gastric adenocarcinoma. At the same time, we searched 27 case reports published from 2015 to 2021 over the world and systematically summarized the clinical manifestation of a total of 44 cases with psoriasis caused or exacerbated by Nivolumab. Commonly traditional treatment could be useful, and small molecule drugs such as apremilast are effective among some patients. However, more studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of biologics or small molecule drugs in treating psoriasis induced by nivolumab.

Keywords: Apremilast; Nivolumab; PD-1; Psoriasis.