Introduction

The use of immunotherapy in Mexico has been used since 2012 with ipilimumab and since 2015 with nivolumab and pembrolizumab, so it is a matter of necessity to know the experience of these drugs.

Material and methods

An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, and retrospective study was performed in Médica Sur Hospital, where with dossiers from 2012 to June 2018 patients with metastatic cancer who received immunotherapy with ipilimumab, nivolumab, and pembrolizumab for six months were evaluated, searching as principal outcomes the adverse effects of those drugs and as secondary outcomes the response to treatment.

Results

Seventy subjects fulfilled the inclusion criteria for the study, and 42 (60%) were women with an average age of 60.73 ±13.64 years (16–82 years). The pathologies that received immunotherapy were the following: melanoma and lung cancer. The most frequent clinical and laboratory adverse effects were as follows: fatigue – 32 (45.71%), asthaenia – 30 (42%), nausea – 8 (11.4%), diarrhoea – 8 (11.4%), and rash – 7 (10%). The worst adverse effects were respiratory and endocrinological: pneumonitis – 10 (14.28%), hypothyroidism – 4 (5.71%), hyperglycaemia – 1 (1.4%), and hypophysitis – 2 (2.9%). With respect to treatment response: complete response – 8 (11.4%), partial response – 11 (15.71%), stable disease – 33 (47.14%), and disease progression – 19 (27.14%).

Conclusions

The most common adverse effects did not condition the suspension of treatment or increase in intra-hospital stay, but there were some adverse effects that actually had an impact on evolution, hospital stay, and mortality.