Current Oncology
Frequency of Bloodwork in Patients on Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors
By John R. Goffin, Sze Wah Samuel Chan and Gregory R. Pond.
Abstract
Purpose
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are widely used to treat solid tumours. Prolonged use leads to increased bloodwork to monitor for adverse events (AEs). We explored the safety of decreasing bloodwork frequency while administering an ICI.
Methods
Data was collected on patients receiving ICIs without chemotherapy for solid tumours from 2015 to 2020 at an academic cancer centre in Canada. Demographics, cancer diagnosis, ICI use, and pre-treatment bloodwork were extracted. The control group comprised all patients with all detected AEs. We modelled a decreased frequency of bloodwork by assuming that those same patients had bloodwork taken only every second or third cycle. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with a missed bloodwork-related AE of grade 2 or higher. Descriptive statistics were used.