Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 as a potential biomarker for immune checkpoint inhibitor‐associated neurotoxicity

BACKGROUND: Oncological patients can benefit substantially from treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). However, there is a growing awareness of immune‐related adverse events (irAE). Especially ICI‐mediated neurological adverse events (nAE(+)), are tough to diagnose and biomarkers to identify patients at risk are missing. METHODS: A prospective register with prespecified examinations was established for ICI treated patients in December 2019. At the time of data cut‐off, 110 patients were enrolled and completed the clinical protocol. Herein, cytokines and serum neurofilament light chain (sNFL) from 21 patients were analyzed. RESULTS: nAE of any grade were observed in 31% of the patients (n = 34/110). In nAE(+) patients a significant increase in sNFL concentrations over time was observed. Patients with higher‐grade nAE had significantly elevated serum‐concentrations of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP‐1) and brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) at baseline compared to individuals without any nAE (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Here, we identified nAE to occur more frequently than previously reported. Increase of sNFL during nAE confirms the clinical diagnosis of neurotoxicity and might be a suitable marker for neuronal damage associated with ICI therapy. Furthermore, MCP‐1 and BDNF are potentially the first clinical‐class nAE predictors for patients under ICI therapy.