{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,26]],"date-time":"2026-06-26T21:40:53Z","timestamp":1782510053559,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,11]],"date-time":"2021-08-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1628640000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cancers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Autoimmune hypophysitis is a frequent immune-related adverse event (irAE) in cancer patients treated with immunecheckpoint inhibitors. Studies seeking anti-pituitary (APA) and anti-hypothalamus (AHA) antibodies in patients treated with anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 are scarce. The aim of this study is to search for APA and AHA and related pituitary dysfunction in patients treated with these agents. Methods:Cross-sectional and preliminary longitudinal studies were conducted at the Medical Oncology Unit and Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases Unit of the University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d. Fifty-four cancer patients on treatments with anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 (Group 1) and 50 healthy controls were enrolled for a cross-sectional study; 13 cancer patients (Group 2) were enrolled for our preliminary longitudinal study. APA\/AHA titers and changes in biochemical and hormonal profile were evaluated in Group 1; in Group 2, they were evaluated before and after nine weeks from the start of immunotherapy. Results: Patients of Group 1 showed a higher prevalence of APA and AHA than controls: 21 of them had APA, 16 had AHA, and 11 had both autoantibodies. In total, 7 of 13 patients in Group 2 became APA-positive and 3 became AHA-positive after nine weeks of immunotherapy, showing an increase in prolactin and a decrease in ACTH and IGF-1 levels compared with basal values. Conclusions:Anti-pituitary and anti-hypothalamus antibodies seem to play a pivotal role in hypothalamic\u2013pituitary autoimmunity and secondary endocrine-related alterations evoked by anti-PD-1 and PD-L1 antibodies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cancers13164036","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,11]],"date-time":"2021-08-11T04:56:22Z","timestamp":1628657782000},"page":"4036","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Hypothalamic\u2013Pituitary Autoimmunity in Patients Treated with Anti-PD-1 and Anti-PD-L1 Antibodies"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4748-321X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Bellastella","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carla","family":"Carbone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lorenzo","family":"Scappaticcio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paolo","family":"Cirillo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Teresa","family":"Troiani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology, Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Floriana","family":"Morgillo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology, Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria Teresa","family":"Vietri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Clinical and Molecular Pathology, Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carminia Maria","family":"Della Corte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology, Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0261-0382","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vincenzo","family":"De Falco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology, Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefania","family":"Napolitano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology, Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4659-7546","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Ida","family":"Maiorino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Annamaria","family":"De Bellis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katherine","family":"Esposito","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Diabetes Unit, Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"711","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa1003466","article-title":"Improved 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