Slangen RM, van den Eertwegh AJ, van Bodegraven AA, de Boer NK. Diarrhoea in a patient with metastatic melanoma: Ipilimumab ileocolitis treated with infliximab. World J Gastrointest Pharmacol Ther 2013; 4(3): 80-82 [PMID: 23919220 DOI: 10.4292/wjgpt.v4.i3.80]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Nanne KH de Boer, MD, PhD, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, VU University Medical Center, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. khn.deboer@vumc.nl
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastrointest Pharmacol Ther. Aug 6, 2013; 4(3): 80-82 Published online Aug 6, 2013. doi: 10.4292/wjgpt.v4.i3.80
Diarrhoea in a patient with metastatic melanoma: Ipilimumab ileocolitis treated with infliximab
Rob ME Slangen, Alfonsus JM van den Eertwegh, Adriaan A van Bodegraven, Nanne KH de Boer
Rob ME Slangen, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, HagaZiekenhuis, 2545 CH Den Haag, The Netherlands
Alfonsus JM van den Eertwegh, Department of Medical Oncology, VU University Medical Centre, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Adriaan A van Bodegraven, Nanne KH de Boer, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, VU University Medical Centre, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Author contributions: Slangen RME wrote the manuscript and was involved in the medical treatment of the ipilimumab ileocolitis as a consulting doctor of the Gastroenterology and Hepatology department; van den Eertwegh AJM was the treating Medical Oncologist and critically reviewed the manuscript; van Bodegraven AA and de Boer NKH performed the colonoscopy and critically reviewed the manuscript; all authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Nanne KH de Boer, MD, PhD, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, VU University Medical Center, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. khn.deboer@vumc.nl
Telephone: +31-20-4440613 Fax: +31-20-4440554
Received: December 28, 2012 Revised: April 15, 2013 Accepted: May 18, 2013 Published online: August 6, 2013
Abstract
Administration of ipilimumab, a cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated antigen-4-blocking monoclonal antibody, leads to enhancement of the anti-tumor T-cell response and as a result shows a significant survival benefit in metastatic melanoma patients. Therefore patients are currently receiving this promising therapy as a second-line strategy. Unfortunately, by activation of the T-cell immune respons, ipilimumab therapy may lead to an unwanted induction of different autoimmune phenomena. Diarrhoea and colitis occur in up to one third of patients. Here we present a case of ipilimumab induced ileocolitis which was successfully treated with infliximab, an anti-tumor necrosis factor monoclonal antibody, after corticosteroid therapy failure. Although formal trials are lacking, recently publicated series suggest that infusional therapy of infliximab is effective in ipilimumab induced ileocolitis.
Core tip: This paper presents a case of ipilimumab induced ileocolitis which was successfully treated with infliximab, an anti-tumor necrosis factor monoclonal antibody, after corticosteroid therapy failure. Although formal trials are lacking, recently publicated series suggest that infusional therapy of infliximab is effective in ipilimumab induced ileocolitis.
