The Cytokine Expression in Patients with Cardiac Complication after Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy
Toshihiro Tsuruda, Naoki Yoshikawa, Motoaki Kai, Masashi Yamaguchi, Reiko Toida, Tsuyoshi Kodama, Kei Kajihara, Takayuki Kawabata, Takeshi Nakamura, Koji Sakata, Kinta Hatakeyama, Toshihiro Gi, Yujiro Asada, Tetsuya Tono, Kazuo Kitamura, Ryuji Ikeda
Abstract
We herein report the cytokine expression at different stages for three patients who developed cardiac complications after immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. Case 1 with biopsy-proven myocarditis showed increased levels of interleukin (IL)-8, monocyte chemotactic and activating factor, and granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) when he developed Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Case 2 with subclinical myocarditis showed predominant activation of IL-8 during the progressive clinical course. Case 3 with cytokine-releasing syndrome showed substantial activations of IL-6, IL-8, GM-CSF, and interferon-γ. Our data suggest the development of unique cytokine activation in individual patients with cardiac complications after ICI therapy.