Changsha 63-year-old Mr. Jiang was diagnosed with liver cancer last year. After a series of examinations, the doctor formulated an immunotherapy plan for him, using an immune checkpoint inhibitor called “camrelizumab” . The drug has a remarkable therapeutic effect, and the tumor on Mr. Jiang’s liver has been significantly controlled.
After taking the medicine for a few months, Mr. Jiang found that there were many small rashes like red moles on his body, some of which were the size of rice grains and protruded on the skin surface. Mr. Jiang panicked immediately: Could it be that the liver cancer is under control, and that hemangioma has grown again?
Mr. Jiang consulted the Department of Hematology and Oncology of the Third Hospital of Changsha City anxiously. Yang Xiaogang, deputy director of the department, told him after understanding the medical history and detailed examination that this was not a capillary hemangioma, but reactive cutaneous capillary hyperplasia, a side effect of the immunotherapy drug camrelizumab.
Yang Xiaogang explained that because of the similar appearance, many people tend to regard this side effect as capillary hemangioma, but the two are not the same thing at all.
Capillary hemangioma is a congenital malformation of vascular development, which can generally occur anywhere in the body, usually in the oral and maxillofacial region; while reactive cutaneous vascular hyperplasia is typically caused by PD-1 inhibitors, etc. Skin immune-related adverse reactions caused by medication mainly occurred on the surface skin of the head, face and trunk.
The data released at the 2019 World Lung Cancer Congress showed that the occurrence of reactive cutaneous vascular hyperplasia as a side effect is positively correlated with the efficacy of camrelizumab, that is to say, the occurrence of this side effect is positive. patients, the effect is better than the patients who did not appear.
Liu Lihua, deputy director of the Pharmacy Department of Changsha Third Hospital, explained that patients and their families do not need to worry too much about reactive cutaneous vascular hyperplasia. Most of the reactive cutaneous vascular hyperplasia caused by camrelizumab is mild, and generally does not require drug withdrawal and special treatment; as the treatment continues, patients will gradually adapt to the side effects; camrelizumab treatment Reactive cutaneous vascular hyperplasia resolves spontaneously 1 to 2 months after the end of the treatment.
“It turns out that having a rash indicates better curative effect!” Mr. Jiang was relieved.
The emergence of immune checkpoint inhibitors has rewritten the history of oncology drug treatment, and advanced the drug treatment of advanced tumors a big step forward. With the current promotion and application of immunotherapy in clinical practice, adverse reactions related to immune checkpoint inhibitors have also received more and more clinical attention.
Patients and friends do not need to give up related treatment because of fear of side effects, because most of these side effects can be effectively controlled after early detection and active treatment. If immunotherapy patients have symptoms such as rash, itching, cough, dyspnea, fatigue, etc., it is recommended to seek medical treatment in time, and professional and active treatment will be given according to the specific situation after examination by a specialist.
Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter Mei Mei and correspondent Wang Yangyang
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