Dennis Fitzgerald Author

Case Report Open Access

A Case of Pembrolizumab Induced Autoimmune Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Author(s):

Kealan Hobelmann and Dennis Fitzgerald

increasingly used to treat a variety of cancers by enhancing the immune response against cancer cells. Pembrolizumab is a humanized antibody which prevents tumor cells from deactivating host T-cells. Like most forms of immunotherapy, many of the adverse effects are autoimmune in origin due to the heightened immune response. Case: We present a rare case of Pembrolizumab induced autoimmune hearing loss in a patient with invasive melanoma which was responsive to steroids. A 67-year-old male presented with metastatic melanoma of the toe. He underwent amputation followed by treatment with IV pembrolizumab 2 mg/kg every 3 weeks. After a single dose, he experienced severe bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. His treatments were stopped and he was started on oral steroids. He later also underw... view more»

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