Clinical and prognostic characteristics analysis of fifteen patients with immune checkpoint inhibitor-related colitis
10.3760/cma.j.cn101480-20241204-00131
- VernacularTitle:免疫检查点抑制剂相关结肠炎15例临床和预后特征分析
- Author:
Wei CHEN
1
;
Siying ZHU
1
;
Xi ZHANG
1
;
Yongdong WU
1
;
Ye ZONG
1
Author Information
1. 首都医科大学附属北京友谊医院消化内科 消化健康全国重点实验室 国家消化疾病临床研究中心，北京 100050
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Immune checkpoint inhibitor-related colitis;
Immune checkpoint inhibitors;
Immune-related adverse events;
Clinical characteristics;
Prognostic characteris
- From:
Chinese Journal of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
2025;09(4):326-333
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To analyze the clinical and prognostic characteristics of patients with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) -related colitis.Methods:A retrospective observational research method was conducted. Clinical data from patients diagnosed with ICI-related colitis at Beijing Friendship Hospital between January 2016 and May 2024 were collected. Clinical severity was assessed using the common terminology criteria for adverse event (CTCAE) grading, Mayo Score, Truelove & Witts Score, and endoscopic severity was assessed using Mayo endoscopic score (MES), ulcerative colitis endoscopic index of severity (UCEIS), and MD Anderson Cancer Center endoscopic inflammation grading (MD grading). Spearman rank correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation between different scoring systems.Results:A total of 15 patients were included, with 10 males and 5 females, and the median age was 64.0 (55.5, 71.0) years. Thirteen patients were treated with programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibodies, and 2 patients were treated with programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) monoclonal antibodies. The median onset time of the 15 patients was 66.5 (41.0, 168.0) days after ICI treatment. All patients had diarrhea, only 25% patients presented with abdominal pain, and 20%-33% patients had fever, abdominal distension, nausea, and vomiting. Most of the inflammatory indicators were non-specific. Among the 14 patients who underwent CT examinations, 2 patients had no abnormal manifestations, 10 patients had left colon involvement, mainly manifested as thickening of the colon wall, and 6 of these patients had full-thickness involvement. Among the 12 patients who underwent colonoscopy examination, except for one patient with no abnormalities, 11 patients had rectal and sigmoid colon involvement, the proportions of the descending colon, ascending colon, and terminal ileum involvement decreased successively, and the involved mucosa was mainly manifested as disappearance of vascular texture, mucosal congestion and edema, erosion to shallow ulcers, and lumen stenosis. The lesions in 5 patients were distributed continuously similar to ulcerative colitis, and the lesions in 6 patients were distributed segmentally, 1 of them had an isolated deep ulcer in the rectum under endoscopy. Correlation analysis revealed significant correlations between endoscopic scores (MES, UCEIS, and MD grading; all P < 0.001). Truelove & Witts score strongly correlated with the Mayo score ( ρ = 0.88, P < 0.001). Among clinical-endoscopic comparisons, the Mayo score exhibited the strong positive correlation with endoscopic scores (all P < 0.05), followed by the Truelove & Witts score (all P < 0.05), and CTCAE diarrhea grading only had positive correlation with MD grading ( P = 0.034). However, CTCAE colitis grading showed no significant correlation with endoscopic scores (all P > 0.05). During a mean follow-up of 13.5 months, 10 patients received corticosteroid therapy, and 5 received alternative treatments. Corticosteroid-treated patients showed favorable clinical responses, and rapid tapering feasible occurred in parts of mild-to-moderate patients without relapse. However, perforation occurred in 2 patients with small bowel involvement. Conclusions:The main clinical manifestations of patients with ICI-related colitis are diarrhea. Imaging studies suggest thickening of the colonic wall. Endoscopic findings show the highest involvement in the left colon. Truelove&Witts score and Mayo score is strongly correlated. Corticosteroid therapy exhibits a rapid response, and the prognosis of patients with small intestine involvement is poor.
