An analysis of various registries and clinical trial data, carried out by an international team involving researchers from the Institute of Myology, revealed:
- 1,495 cases of myocarditis with immune checkpoint inhibitors in the World Health Organization’s VigiBase registry, a rare (around 1%) but potentially serious adverse event,
- a 10- to 30-fold greater risk of ICI myotoxicity in patients receiving this treatment for a thymus epithelial tumor (TET), compared with those treated for another form of cancer,
- an earlier onset of myocarditis with ICI, and an increase in its severity, in TET patients,
- a more frequent presence of anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies (RACh) and thymus CT features (diameter, thickness, etc.) in cases of myocarditis under ICI.
A clinical, biological and radiological assessment of the thymus could thus have a predictive value for ICI myotoxicity.
