Early mortality in patients with cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors in routine practice

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have improved survival of cancer patients in clinical studies. There is a paucity of data of real-world patients receiving ICIs for cancer. A retrospective study of patients treated with ICIs in Ontario found early mortality (EM, within 60 days of ICI initiation) in 15% of patients. The highest EM was observed in patients with bladder or head and neck tumors (21% each). Thirty- and ninety-day mortality was 7% and 22%, respectively.