Metabolites (Dec 2020)

Possible Influence of Weight Gain and Creatinine Levels in Predicting Response to Nivolumab: A Multicenter Analysis

  • Cornelia Nitipir,
  • Cristina Orlov-Slavu,
  • Lucian Alecu,
  • Iulian Slavu,
  • Anca Pantea-Stoian,
  • Ionela Daniela Celmare,
  • Mihaela Olaru,
  • Valentin Calu,
  • Andra-Iulia Suceveanu,
  • Laura Mazilu,
  • Andreea-Daniela Gheorghe,
  • Adelina Silviana Gheorghe,
  • Catalina Poiana,
  • Razvan Hainarosie,
  • Sanziana Octavia Ionescu,
  • Dana Lucia Stanculeanu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo10120510
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 12
p. 510

Abstract

Read online

Literature suggests that high body mass index can be correlated with better response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. On the other hand, sarcopenia seems to be a negative predictive marker. The present analysis is a retrospective, multicenter trial that included patients with metastatic melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and renal cell carcinoma treated with nivolumab between 2018 and 2020. Patients were stratified by creatinine levels both at treatment initiation and at first follow-up (at three months) and by BMI for the same intervals, as recorded in the patients’ charts. Creatinine was considered a surrogate marker for sarcopenia. IBM SPSS version 20 was used for statistical analysis. A total of 57 (n = 57) patients were included in the trial. Overall response rate (ORR) for the entire population was 38.59% (p = 0.02). Patients with BMI lower than 25 had an ORR of 28.5% (p = 0.003), whereas patients with BMI higher than 25 had an ORR of 42.3% (p = 0.002). Patients who gained weight during treatment had a lower probability of having progressive disease (OR = 0.4 [95% CI; 0.4–1.2]), as did patients with creatinine higher than 0.9 (OR = 0.39 [95% CI: 0.13–1.14]). No superiority was found in progression-free survival (PFS) when patients were dichotomized for BMI = 25 or BMI = 18.5. Mean PFS in the BMI under 18.5 group was 10.2 months [95% CI: 5.8–23.1], versus 11.2 for BMI over 18.5 [95% CI: 5.3–25.3], p p p < 0.001. Patients treated with nivolumab who have weight gain during treatment have a better PFS than the ones who do not. Creatinine levels of over 0.9 at treatment initiation also have positive predictive value.

Keywords