A 78-year-old male with renal cell carcinoma was treated with combined immunotherapy of nivolumab and ipilimumab. After four courses of the treatment, a chest computed tomography (CT) revealed newly formed ground-glass opacities (GGOs) in both the lower lung lobes; drug-induced pneumonia was speculated. Eosinophil counts were elevated in both peripheral blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Both the immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) were discontinued, following which the chest CT findings improved. Based on these findings, a diagnosis of ICI-induced eosinophilic pneumonia was made. Hence, clinicians should be wary of the risk of eosinophilic pneumonia during ICI-anticancer therapy.
Keywords: eosinophilic pneumonia; immune checkpoint inhibitor; immune-related adverse event; ipilimumab; nivolumab.
© 2021 The Authors. Thoracic Cancer published by China Lung Oncology Group and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.