Real-world effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors alone or in combination with chemotherapy in metastatic non–small cell lung cancer

• Published in: Journal of clinical oncology Vol. 40; no. 16_suppl; p. 9055
• Main Authors: Hong, Lingzhi, Rinsurongkawong, Waree, Saad, Maliazurina B, Chen, Pingjun, Aminu, Muhammad, Spelman, Amy R., Negrao, Marcelo Vailati, Cascone, Tina, Lin, Steven H., Lee, Percy, Sepesi, Boris, Lewis, Jeff, Gibbons, Don Lynn, Vaporciyan, Ara A., Lee, J. Jack, Le, Xiuning, Wu, Jia, Heymach, John, Zhang, Jianjun, Vokes, Natalie I
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.06.2022
• ISSN: 0732-183X; 1527-7755
• DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2022.40.16_suppl.9055

9055 Background: The benefit of combination immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) with chemotherapy over ICI monotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains underexplored. Methods: This retrospective cohort included patients with metastatic NSCLC from a single-institution database treated with ICI monotherapy or with chemotherapy between 1/2014-2/2020. Clinical progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were the primary outcomes. Propensity score adjustment for clinical and sociodemographic characteristics was used for analysis of first-line treatment outcomes. Results: A total of 1,139 patients (54% male; median age, 64.9) were included. Adenocarcinoma histology, smoking history, higher PD-L1 expression, and lower metastatic stage associated with improved PFS. However, PD-L1 expression and smoking associated with PFS only in adenocarcinoma (LUAD); squamous (LUSC) patients had shorter PFS independent of PD-L1 and smoking history (PD-L1 > 50% vs 1-49%: LUAD P < 0.001; LUSC P = 0.69; Former vs never smoker: LUAD P = 0.008; LUSC P = 0.89). In first-line patients (n = 680), treatment with ICI plus chemotherapy (ICI-chemo) associated with higher progression-free rates at 3 and 6 months compared with ICI-monotherapy (ICI-chemo vs ICI-mono: 3-month PFS, 85.2% vs 68.8%, P = 0.001; 6-month PFS, 66.4% vs 52.6%, P = 0.008). However, there was no difference overall in PFS or OS in either the full or propensity-matched cohort. Treatment with ICI and chemotherapy concurrently vs sequentially was associated with similar PFS (log-rank P = 0.12). Conclusions: In this real-world cohort, the addition of chemotherapy to ICIs may protect against early progression but does not influence long-term outcomes. Treatment with sequential vs concurrent ICI and chemotherapy produced similar outcomes. These findings suggest that combination therapy may maximally benefit patients at risk of early progression.