Methodology
Literature search –Literature was searched from 2018 up to June
2021 from several databases like Pub-Med, Google Scholar for studies on
adverse events (AEs) induced by the anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 drugs. The
drugs were searched only for cutaneous adverse effects. The following
keywords were used (alone or in combination). “adverse drug reaction”,
“adverse effects”, “cutaneous adverse effects” “PD-1 inhibitors”,
“pembrolizumab”, “nivolumab”.“PD-L1 inhibitors”, “avelumab”,
“atezolizumab”, “durvalumab”, “lichenoid dermatitis”,
“granulomatous skin reactions”, “vitiligo”, “pruritus”,
“psoriasiform rashes”, “bullous pemphigoid”, “dermatomyositis”,
“lupus erythematosus”, “stevens-johnson syndrome/ toxic epidermal
necrolysis (TEN)”, “oral lichenoid dermatitis”. The search mainly
included research articles, retrospective studies, case reports, and
clinicopathological findings. The authors reviewed the abstracts and
titles of studies that include the cases of cutaneous adverse events and
treatment with either PD-1 inhibitors (pembrolizumab and nivolumab) or
with PD-L1 inhibitors (atezolizumab, avelumab, durvalumab).
Literature review - About 200 articles were searched and a total
of 150 publications were included in this article. These publications
reported a total of 179 cases in which cutaneous irAEs were discussed.
The cutaneous adverse effects encountered are lichenoid dermatitis
(30/179), granulomatous skin reactions (24/179), vitiligo (10/179),
pruritus (3/179), psoriasiform rashes (21/179), bullous pemphigoid
(29/179), dermatomyositis (15/179), lupus erythematosus (11/179),
stevens-johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) (18/179), oral
lichenoid dermatitis (18/179). The data gathered from the cases have
been compiled in Table 1.