Research Summary
Dr. Cappelli has started a research program to evaluate the rheumatologic adverse effects of cancer immunotherapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, work to boost patients’ own immune systems to fight their cancer, leading to great advances in treatment. However, they can also lead to adverse events as a result of their mechanism of action. Rheumatologists are seeing patients with inflammatory arthritis, immune-mediated dry mouth and dry eyes, myositis, vasculitis and other adverse events due to cancer immunotherapy. Dr. Cappelli is investigating several different aspects of these adverse events including the clinical characteristics, epidemiology, impact on patients, and the biologic mechanisms. Her work involves collaborations with oncologists and laboratory investigators in rheumatology and oncology. Through this research, guidelines for evaluation and management of adverse events can be developed and those at greatest risk for adverse events may be identified.
Dr. Cappelli also has a research interest in rheumatoid arthritis. She focuses on the use of autoantibodies as biomarkers and on patients with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis.
Selected Publications
Cappelli LC, Bingham CO 3rd. Spectrum and impact of checkpoint inhibitor-induced irAEs. Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2021 Feb;17(2):69-70. doi: 10.1038/s41584-020-00546-2. PubMed PMID: 33235330
Braaten TJ, Brahmer JR, Forde PM, Le D, Lipson EJ, Naidoo J, Schollenberger M, Zheng L, Bingham CO, Shah AA, Cappelli LC. Immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced inflammatory arthritis persists after immunotherapy cessation. Ann Rheum Dis. 2020 Mar;79(3):332-338. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2019-216109. Epub 2019 Sep 20. PubMed PMID: 31540935; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7031780
Naidoo J, Zhang J, Lipson EJ, Forde PM, Suresh K, Moseley KF, Mehta S, Kwatra SG, Parian AM, Kim AK, Probasco JC, Rouf R, Thorne JE, Shanbhag S, Riemer J, Shah AA, Pardoll DM, Bingham CO, Brahmer JR, Cappelli LC. A Multidisciplinary Toxicity Team for Cancer Immunotherapy-Related Adverse Events. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2019 Jun 1;17(6):712-720. doi: 10.6004/jnccn.2018.7268. PubMed PMID: 31200355
Cappelli LC, Konig MF, Gelber AC, Bingham CO 3rd, Darrah E. Smoking is not linked to the development of anti-peptidylarginine deiminase 4 autoantibodies in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Res Ther. 2018 Mar 23;20(1):59. doi: 10.1186/s13075-018-1533-z. PubMed PMID: 29566742; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5865363
Cappelli LC, Gutierrez AK, Baer AN, Albayda J, Manno RL, Haque U, Lipson EJ, Bleich KB, Shah AA, Naidoo J, Brahmer JR, Le D, Bingham CO 3rd. Inflammatory arthritis and sicca syndrome induced by nivolumab and ipilimumab. Ann Rheum Dis. 2017 Jan;76(1):43-50. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2016-209595. Epub 2016 Jun 15. PubMed PMID: 27307501; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5333990
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