JTO Clinical and Research Reports (Jul 2022)

Efficacy of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor With or Without Chemotherapy for Nonsquamous NSCLC With Malignant Pleural Effusion: A Retrospective Multicenter Cohort Study

  • Hayato Kawachi, MD,
  • Motohiro Tamiya, MD,
  • Yoshihiko Taniguchi, MD,
  • Toshihide Yokoyama, MD,
  • Shinya Yokoe, MD,
  • Yuko Oya, MD, PhD,
  • Mihoko Imaji, MD,
  • Fukuko Okabe, MD,
  • Masaki Kanazu, MD,
  • Yoshihiko Sakata, MD,
  • Shinya Uematsu, MD,
  • Satoshi Tanaka, MD,
  • Daisuke Arai, MD, PhD,
  • Go Saito, MD,
  • Hiroshi Kobe, MD,
  • Eisaku Miyauchi, MD, PhD,
  • Asuka Okada, MD, PhD,
  • Satoshi Hara, MD,
  • Toru Kumagai, MD, PhD

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 3, no. 7
p. 100355

Abstract

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Introduction: Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is associated with poor treatment outcome in patients with NSCLC receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). ICIs and chemotherapy (ICI/Chemo) combination therapy is currently the standard therapy for NSCLC, and some ICI/Chemo regimens for nonsquamous (non-Sq) NSCLC contain bevacizumab (BEV), which is effective for controlling MPE and may enhance immune response. This study aimed to determine the optimal first-line treatment for this clinical population. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled consecutive patients with non-Sq NSCLC with MPE who received ICI/Chemo or pembrolizumab monotherapy. Treatment outcomes were analyzed in patients with programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) tumor proportion score more than or equal to 50% who were administered ICI/Chemo or pembrolizumab monotherapy (PD-L1 high cohort) and in patients with any PD-L1 status, treated with ICI/Chemo with or without BEV (ICI/Chemo cohort). We used propensity score matching (PSM) to reduce bias. Results: PD-L1 high and ICI/Chemo cohorts included 143 and 139 patients, respectively. In PD-L1 high cohort, 37 patients received ICI/Chemo. With PSM, the median progression-free survival was significantly longer in the ICI/Chemo group than in the pembrolizumab group (11.1 versus 3.9 mo, respectively, p = 0.0409). In the ICI/Chemo cohort, 23 patients received BEV. With PSM, no significant difference occurred in median progression-free survival between BEV and non-BEV groups (6.1 versus 7.4 mo, p = 0.9610). Conclusion: ICI/Chemo seemed more effective than pembrolizumab monotherapy for patients with non-Sq NSCLC with MPE. Nevertheless, the synergistic effect of BEV with ICI/Chemo may be limited. Further studies are needed to clarify the key factor in the tumor-induced immunosuppression environment in these patients.

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