Infliximab for Steroid-Refractory Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Induced Acute Pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis is an infrequent but clinically significant complication of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. Guidelines recommend high-dose steroids and withdrawal of ICI in patients with severe ICI-induced pancreatitis. Management of steroid-refractory ICI pancreatitis is unclear. Infliximab is used to treat select extrapancreatic immune-related adverse events, but its role in ICI pancreatitis remains undefined. To our knowledge, we describe the first case of ICI pancreatitis successfully treated with infliximab after inadequate steroid response (recurrent pancreatitis on multiple attempted steroid tapers). Infliximab may be a viable treatment of steroid-refractory ICI pancreatitis. Further study of its potential effectiveness may improve guideline-directed care.