Development of drug-induced arthritis in a glioblastoma patient treated with pembrolizumab

Abstract

Glioblastoma (GBM, WHO Grade IV) is the most aggressive form of primary brain cancer in adults, and as with other cancers, clinical investigations to use immunotherapy as a possible therapeutic option for GBM are underway. One form of immunotherapy is immune checkpoint inhibition that targets the programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) receptor on lymphocytes. While PD-1 receptor inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab, are often tolerable, there can be dose-limiting immune-related adverse effects, which have the potential to result in impaired health-related quality of life. This case report discusses one patient with recurrent GBM who received pembrolizumab and developed refractory drug-induced arthritis.

Keywords

• Arthritis
• glioblastoma
• immunotherapy
• pembrolizumab