Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized the treatment of several solid tumors, providing deep and durable responses for many patients. However, the anti-tumor mechanism of action of ICIs can also cause aberrantly active self-damaging immune responses, leading to immune-related adverse events (irAEs). The natural history, response to treatment, and patterns of irAEs vary widely, ranging from short-term inflammatory conditions to prolonged inflammation and damage to organs leading to permanent dysfunction. These diverse patterns of irAEs have been inconsistently described in the literature, making existing data difficult to interpret.
Recognizing a need for a generally accepted and shared vocabulary for irAEs, SITC convened an international consensus panel comprised of leading experts from academic medicine, industry, and regulatory agencies to develop definitions and uniform terminology for irAE natural history (i.e., re-emergent, chronic-active, chronic-inactive, delayed/late-onset), response to treatment (i.e., steroid-unresponsive, steroid-dependent), and patterns (i.e., multisystem irAEs).
The result of this effort was a manuscript, “Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) consensus definitions for immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated immune-related adverse events (irAEs) terminology,” available in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (JITC), the society’s open-access, peer-reviewed online journal.