Retrospective Analysis of Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy-Associated Cases of Bullous Pemphigoid From Six German Dermatology Centers

Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are a class-effect of checkpoint inhibitors (CIs). The development of a Bullous pemphigoid (BP)-like blistering disease, driven by autoantibodies against the hemidesmosomal protein BP180, is a potentially serious irAE whose incidence seems to be increasing. We therefore set out to characterize the clinical and (immuno)histopathological features and treatment responses of cases of BP which developed during or after CI therapy collated in six German tertiary referral centers between 2014 and 2018. We identified twelve cases of BP which emerged during and/or after CI therapy. The time interval between the initiation of CI therapy and the diagnosis of BP wa…