Development of shellfish allergy after exposure to dual immune checkpoint blockade

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major health problem worldwide with limited systemic therapies available. Immunotherapy is a fast-moving field that is quickly evolving as a treatment for HCC with three recent clinical trials published treating HCC with immune checkpoint inhibitors with promising results. Checkpoint inhibition may lead to a unique adverse event profile with the potential to cause immune-related adverse events by unbalancing the immune system. Here, we report a case of a 61-year-old male with advanced HCC who developed a shellfish allergy after completing three cycles of combination of tremelimumab and durvalumab therapy.

Keywords: :

• allergy
• checkpoint inhibitors
• durvalumab
• hepatocellular carcinoma
• immunotherapy
• tremelimumab

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors are supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, NCI. TF Greten is an employee of the US Federal Government. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.

Additional information

Funding

The authors are supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, NCI. TF Greten is an employee of the US Federal Government. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.