Nontuberculous mycobacterial infections during cancer therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors: a systematic review

Abstract

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are drugs growingly employed in the treatment of cancers, but there are still uncertainties about their possible role in the risk of developing nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections. To understand this, we performed a systematic review of the literature including studies published between 20 June 2012 and 20 June 2022 which described the occurrence of NTM infections among patients treated with ICIs. Overall, we included seven studies describing nine patients with NTM infection occurring during ICIs therapy. NTM infections occurring during ICIs therapy are mainly caused by germs belonging to the Mycobacterium avium complex, involve primarily the lungs, on average 1 year after the start of treatment, and are not associated with immunosuppressive treatments.