Prostate Cancer Check Point Inhibitors - Side Effects

[cesces]

What kind of side effects do Check Point Inhibitors have.

It would seem almost certain that the would likely generate auto-immune activity.

Does anyone here have any experience with this, one way or the other?

[Tall_Allen]

It is far from "certain." But so far, checkpoint inhibitor monotherapy has not worked out except for MSI-hi/dMMR. Why do you ask? Which checkpoint inhibitor are you taking or considering?

[cesanon in reply to Tall_Allen]

Seems everyone is talking about checkpoint inhibitors. So they attracted my attention.

As I pondered them and thought about how they work, it occurred to me that the checkpoint exists for a purpose. If you remove it, what will break?

The checkpoint functionality is somehow accessing a biochemical switch or feedback mechanism that is intended to keep the immune system in balance.

I had an experience with luekine treatment for a while. I had to just stop it. It seemed to randomly attack different parts of my body.

There was no rhyme or reason for what it was attacking. It was certainly not provable or non-provable either. But it did prompt an operation to remove a cyst that I had for over 20 years that suddenly began growing or swelling.

Nothing that happened was a big deal... Nothing that it attacked was earth shaking. But it scared me that the next one could be something that was a big deal, and might not be easily switched off.

No one really understands that immune system. Drugs that manipulate it are blunt instruments. Once they get through trials, they go to market and don't look back. They have no economic incentive to really explore all their attributes.

So I wanted to see what people's experience was.

[EdBar in reply to cesanon]

I also used Leukine for quite a while as well after my immune system took a big hit from early chemo, in particular my T cells. Eventually I had to stop, you reach a point where it’s doing more harm than good.

Ed

[cesces in reply to EdBar]

Ed, what harm was leukine doing to you?

[EdBar in reply to cesces]

I don’t know about harm, it was more due to side effects. I felt pretty terrible after being on it for a fairly long period of time. Dr. Myers said you eventually reach a fine line of it doing more harm than good, if your immune system becomes overactive it starts to affect unintended targets.

[cesanon in reply to Tall_Allen]

"checkpoint inhibitor monotherapy has not worked out except for MSI-hi/dMMR. "

Keytruda is out there. It is being used on-label for something.

If not for monotherapy, how is it being used?

[Tall_Allen in reply to cesanon]

for MSI-hi/dMMR, as I said.

[tango65]

They can cause several autoimmune diseases, such hepatitis, nephritis, vitiligo, endocrinopathies, neuropathy, encephalitis etc. etc. The list is long.

This link is for keytruda:

merck.com/product/usa/pi_ci...

This link is for Yervoy:

packageinserts.bms.com/pi/p...

[cbgjr]

I have been in a trial combining a checkpoint-i and a parp-i since last April, PCa progression was successfully stopped.

Side effects were minimal... until recently. An autoimmune-like event recently developed consisting of swollen joints and very itchy skin, in both hands. The checkpoint-i was suspected to be the cause and infusions were suspended at least for now, waiting to see if the problems disappear. Possibly resumed in the future.

CG