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CASE REPORT article

Front. Immunol.

Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy

This article is part of the Research TopicImmunology and Immunotherapy of Skin CancerView all 20 articles

Fulminant Multi-Organ Myositis as a Rare Immune-Related Adverse Event of Nivolumab-Relatlimab (Opdualag) Therapy in Metastatic Melanoma: A Case Report

Provisionally accepted
Adi  MoyalAdi Moyal*Elihau  RosenbergElihau RosenbergNikita  PovlaiveNikita PovlaiveMay  Shimshon TurgemanMay Shimshon TurgemanAlex  YakovsonAlex Yakovson*
  • Soroka Medical Center, Be'er Sheva, Israel

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have transformed the management of metastatic melanoma, providing durable survival benefits in a subset of patients. However, their use is associated with immune-related adverse events (irAEs), which may be unpredictable, severe, and occasionally fatal. We describe the case of a 77-year-old male with metastatic melanoma treated with Nivolumab plus Relatlimab (Opdualag), who achieved a marked antitumor response after seven treatment cycles. He subsequently developed fulminant late-onset myositis with multi-organ involvement, representing a particularly severe and atypical presentation. Despite timely recognition and aggressive immunosuppressive therapy, the clinical course was unfavorable and the patient ultimately succumbed to these complications. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first published report of such a rare and fulminant multi-organ presentation of Opdualag-associated myositis. This report highlights the importance of vigilance for delayed and life threatening irAEs and underscores the need for interdisciplinary collaboration and structured monitoring protocols as novel ICI combinations enter routine clinical practice.

Keywords: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), Immune-related adverse events (irAEs), Metastatic Melanoma, Myositis, Opdualag (Nivolumab–Relatlimab)

Received: 09 Oct 2025; Accepted: 02 Feb 2026.

Copyright: © 2026 Moyal, Rosenberg, Povlaive, Turgeman and Yakovson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Adi Moyal
Alex Yakovson

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