Severe interstitial pneumonia associated with anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint antibody after talc slurry pleurodesis

A 70-year-old Japanese man with recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck presented with severe interstitial pneumonia associated with nivolumab, after talc slurry pleurodesis. Following the development of malignant pleural effusion, he underwent chest drainage and was administered intrathoracic talc as a pleurodesis. Two weeks later, we administered nivolumab (3 mg/kg) to be repeated every 2 weeks. However, on day 12, chest computed tomography scan demonstrated diffuse non-segmental ground-glass opacity and mild bronchiectasis. We diagnosed interstitial pneumonia associated with nivolumab. Although corticosteroid pulse therapy was initiated, the patient died of respiratory failure on day 14.