My husband has been having Avelumab immunotherapy since April this year as palliative treatment for secondary tumours in his lungs. Apart from some fatigue he seemed to tolerate it, certainly much better than the course of chemo (carboplatin & gemcitobin) that preceded it. However, about a month ago his hands became swollen & sore. After several surgeries over the last few years, he’s now got no bladder & only one kidney, which doesn’t function very well. This means he can’t take anti-inflammatory, so is just on Paracetamol. We saw the oncologist 3 weeks ago & she said categorically that the problem had nothing to do with the immunotherapy & must be rheumatic. A blood test for rheumatoid arthritis came back negative. The pain has now spread to other joints, knees & shoulders, & is quite disabling: he can’t do up buttons, cut up food, etc. At the last immunotherapy treatment we asked the nurse who said it was very likely to be a side-effect. Which leaves us not knowing who to believe! Next oncology appointment is in a week or so & we’ll see his GP tomorrow to let her know that it’s worsened. It could be related to his kidney function but, while poor, that’s been stable for a year now.
I’d love to know whether anyone has had similar side-effects from immunotherapy & what treatment, if any, has helped? Sorry for the long post!
