Sarcoidosis and Airway Disease After Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy: Case Study and Review of the Literature

Pulmonary toxicity from immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy is typically a severe and potentially fatal complication, but theseobservations are driven by the most common toxicity, pneumonitis. Rarer pulmonary immune related adverse events, like airwaydisease and sarcoidosis, may have a more benign course. In this case report, we present a patient in whom therapy with the PD-1inhibitor pembrolizumab resulted in severe eosinophilic asthma and sarcoidosis. This is the first case showing that anti-IL-5inhibition may be safe in patients who develop eosinophilic asthma after ICI therapy. We further show that sarcoidosis does notnecessarily require treatment cessation. This case highlights relevant nuances when clinicians face pulmonary toxicities otherthan pneumonitis.