Publications by authors named "Elena Bianca Barbir"

Article Synopsis
  • Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy is changing cancer treatment, making it more manageable like chronic diseases, but kidney transplant recipients (KTR) face unique risks with cancer due to their medication and health history.
  • Recent studies show that while KTR previously faced higher rejection risks (40%-50%), newer data indicates modified immunosuppression can lower this risk significantly (0%-12%).
  • There’s potential for using non-invasive biomarkers to assess risks and monitor for rejection in KTR undergoing ICI, though biopsies may still be needed for diagnosis, prompting a need for more research on safe and effective practices.
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Over the last 13 years, the use of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy has grown remarkably, owing to their unprecedented anti-tumor efficacy in certain tumor groups. With increased use of ICIs, we are seeing immune-related adverse events (irAEs) more frequently. Renal irAEs, such as ICI-associated acute kidney injury (ICI-AKI), are reported in 2%-5% of patients treated with ICIs, with acute tubulointerstitial nephritis (ATIN) as the most common histopathologic lesion, though various forms of glomerulonephritis have also been reported.

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Rationale: Vaccines remain central to the management of COVID-19 pandemic, including the need for repeat doses of vaccines to boost immunity. There has been an accumulating case count of glomerulopathies temporally associated with COVID-19 vaccination. This case series presents 4 patients who developed double-positive anti-glomerular basement membrane antibody (anti-GBM) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA)-associated glomerulonephritis after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination.

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