BTOG 2026 | Cardiac risks associated with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy
Sobaib Nazir, MBBS, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK, comments on the cardiac effects of immunotherapy in oncology, including immune checkpoint inhibitor-mediated myocarditis, which has a low frequency but high fatality rate, as well as associations with heart failure and accelerated atherosclerosis. Therefore, it is important to conduct baseline risk factor analysis and close surveillance, particularly for higher-risk patients. This interview took place at the 2026 British Thoracic Oncology Group (BTOG) congress in Edinburgh, UK.
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Transcript
Right, well, immunotherapy has a range of effects and toxicities related to the heart. Probably the most severe one is that of immune checkpoint inhibitor-mediated myocarditis. The frequency is quite low, but the fatality can be quite high. Immunotherapy is also associated with heart failure and also accelerated atherosclerosis, and again, just having a good baseline risk factor analysis and keeping close surveillance in these patients, particularly the higher-risk ones, is probably the way forward for these patients...
Right, well, immunotherapy has a range of effects and toxicities related to the heart. Probably the most severe one is that of immune checkpoint inhibitor-mediated myocarditis. The frequency is quite low, but the fatality can be quite high. Immunotherapy is also associated with heart failure and also accelerated atherosclerosis, and again, just having a good baseline risk factor analysis and keeping close surveillance in these patients, particularly the higher-risk ones, is probably the way forward for these patients.
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