Epithelioid granulomatous lesions express abundant programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1): a discussion of adverse events in anti-PD-1 antibody-based cancer immunotherapy

Abstract

The immune system is often called a double-edged sword, due to the inextricable link between cancer immunity and allergy/autoimmunity. Intriguingly, a growing number of cases have been reported in which PD-1 blockade triggers the exacerbation of tuberculosis (TB), an organ-invasive granulomatous disease caused by bacterial infection. As a result, the exacerbation of TB is now considered a severe adverse effect of nivolumab and pembrolizumab. In this letter, we report the strong expression of PD-L1 in epithelioid granulomatous lesions in tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, Crohn’s disease, and foreign body granuloma. In addition, we discussed the exacerbation of tuberculosis after anti-PD-1 antibody-based cancer immunotherapy.