Treatment-Related Adverse Events of PD-1 and PD-L1 Inhibitors in Clinical Trials

Programmed cell death (PD-1) and programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors have been increasingly used in cancer therapy. Understanding the treatment-related adverse events of these drugs is critical for clinical practice.

To evaluate the incidences of treatment-related adverse events of PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors and the differences between different drugs and cancer types. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus were searched from October 1, 2017, through December 15, 2018. STUDY SELECTION: Published clinical trials on single-agent PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors with tabulated data on treatment-related adverse events were included. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Trial name, phase, cancer type, PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitor used, dose escalation, dosing schedule, number of patients, number of all adverse events, and criteria for adverse event reporting data were extracted from each included study, and bayesian multilevel regression models were applied for data analysis. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Incidences of treatment-related adverse events and differences between different drugs and cancer types.