Immune checkpoint inhibitor-related haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in a patient with non-small cell lung carcinoma

Setsuko Oyama; Tatsuya Shirai; Yukiko Abe; Maya Tsuchiya; Toshiya Inui; Kozo Suhara; Satoshi Noto; Mitsuhiro Kamimura

doi:10.1002/rcr2.1117

Immune checkpoint inhibitor-related haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in a patient with non-small cell lung carcinoma

Respirol Case Rep. 2023 Mar 8;11(4):e01117. doi: 10.1002/rcr2.1117. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Authors

Setsuko Oyama^{1

2}, Tatsuya Shirai^{1

3}, Yukiko Abe¹, Maya Tsuchiya¹, Toshiya Inui^{1

4}, Kozo Suhara¹, Satoshi Noto^{5

6}, Mitsuhiro Kamimura¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Respiratory Medicine National Hospital Organization Disaster Medical Center Tokyo Japan.
² Department of Rheumatology National Center of Global Health Tokyo Japan.
³ Department of Respiratory Medicine Kyorin University School of Medicine Tokyo Japan.
⁴ Department of Cardiology and Respirology Medicine Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine Gifu Japan.
⁵ Hematology Division National Hospital Organization Disaster Medical Center Tokyo Japan.
⁶ Department of Hematology Nerima Hikarigaoka Hospital Tokyo Japan.

Abstract

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) has been reported as a rare complication of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI); however, ICI-related HLH is a life-threatening and comparatively late adverse event. Early diagnosis is critical, and it should be included in the differential diagnosis especially in patients with cytopenia with fever and hyperferritinaemia.

Keywords: haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis; immune checkpoint inhibitors; lung cancer.