Granulomatous Cutaneous Drug Eruptions: A Systematic Review

Systematic reviews should build on a protocol that describes the rationale, hypothesis, and planned methods of the review; few reviews report whether a protocol exists. Detailed, well-described protocols can facilitate the understanding and appraisal of the review methods, as well as the detection of modifications to methods and selective reporting in completed reviews. We describe the development of a reporting guideline, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses for Protocols 2015 (PRISMA-P 2015). PRISMA-P consists of a 17-item checklist intended to facilitate the preparation and reporting of a robust protocol for the systematic review. Funders and those commissioning reviews might consider mandating the use of the checklist to facilitate the submission of relevant protocol information in funding applications. Similarly, peer reviewers and editors can use the guidance to gauge the completeness and transparency of a systematic review protocol submitted for publication in a journal or other medium.

Case reports and case series are uncontrolled study designs known for increased risk of bias but have profoundly influenced the medical literature and continue to advance our knowledge. In this guide, we present a framework for appraisal, synthesis and application of evidence derived from case reports and case series. We propose a tool to evaluate the methodological quality of case reports and case series based on the domains of selection, ascertainment, causality and reporting and provide signalling questions to aid evidence-based practitioners and systematic reviewers in their assessment. We suggest using evidence derived from case reports and case series to inform decision-making when no other higher level of evidence is available.

Undoubtedly the discovery of immune checkpoints such as CTLA-4 and PD-1 has been crucial to the development of cancer immunotherapy. Although these molecules were originally discovered as molecules playing a role in T cell activation or apoptosis, subsequent preclinical research showed their important role in the maintenance of peripheral immune tolerance. Mice deficient of the immune checkpoints CTLA-4 or PD-1 develop autoimmune-like diseases that occur early after birth and are lethal in the case of CTLA-4 deficiency, or become apparent much later in life in the case of PD-1 deficiency. Blockade of CTLA-4 and PD-1 resulted in the development of antitumor immune responses that were effective as single agents or required additional treatment depending on the preclinical model. Therefore, it was surprising that single-agent anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 are so effective anticancer treatments in humans. These therapies have revolutionized cancer immunotherapy as they showed for the first time in many years of research in metastatic melanoma, which is considered one of the most immunogenic human cancers, an improvement in overall survival, with an increasing group of patients benefitting long-term from these treatments. In this chapter we discuss the discovery of immune checkpoints, the clinical application of their inhibitors and the future directions of this highly interesting class of molecules.