Immuno-Oncological Treatment and Tumor Mass in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Case-Control Analysis of Overall Survival in Routine Clinical Practice.

BACKGROUND: Immuno-oncological (IO) therapies such as PD-1 and PD-L1 antibodies have been introduced in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) since 2015 based on randomized trials showing unprecedented advantages in overall survival (OS) with hazard ratios (HRs) between 0.5 and 0.7. The impact of these treatments on OS in routine clinical practice and the role of tumor mass have not been studied. METHODS: 557 consecutive patients with inoperable stage III or stage IV NSCLC diagnosed in our certified lung cancer center from 2006 to 2018 were included if they had received at least one line of systemic treatment. OS of immuno-oncologically treated patients (IO patients, n = 144) who received treatment with a PD-1 antibody (nivolumab [n = 77] or pembrolizumab [n = 51]) or a PD-L1 antibody (atezolizumab [n = 4] or durvalumab [n = 12]) was compared to historic controls treated before availability of IO treatment (n = 413) using case-control analysis. IO patients and historic controls were individually matched for stage, performance state, histology, smoking status, gender, age, and initial treatment mode (palliative vs. definitive radio-chemotherapy). RESULTS: Case-control analysis of 91 matched pairs showed significantly longer OS in IO patients compared to historic controls (21.2 vs. 10.9 months, HR 0.526, CI 0.373-0.723). The benefit was more pronounced in patients with lower tumor stage (HR 0.48 [stage III], 0.40 [IVA], 0.63 [IVB]) or smaller tumor size (HR 0.38 [RECIST ≤57 mm], 0.40 [RECIST 58-94 mm], 0.59 [RECIST 95-141 mm], 0.75 [RECIST ≥142 mm]). CONCLUSIONS: IO patients showed significant benefit in OS with HRs comparable to those reported in phase III trials. The benefit tended to be greater in patients with lower tumor mass.

Prospective trial of immuno(chemo)therapy before resection, definitive chemoradiotherapy or palliative therapy in patients with locally advanced or oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer without a primary curative option.

BACKGROUND: Recent phase II-III trials of immuno(chemo)therapy before resection in locally advanced resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) report high rates of pathological response and promising survival. However, primarily, patients who did not undergo resection were excluded from these studies. Moreover, there are no data on chemoradiotherapy (CRT) after immuno(chemo)therapy in patients who are primarily not amenable to CRT. We hypothesised that induction immuno(chemo)therapy may enable patients with NSCLC with a potentially curative stage (III-IVA), for whom primary curative treatment (either resection or CRT) is not possible for anatomical or functional reasons, to receive curative treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We enrolled 35 patients with NSCLC with aforementioned characteristics into a prospective real-world trial of induction immuno(chemo)therapy followed by morphologic and metabolic reassessment and multidisciplinary board-guided curative treatment (resection [preferred] or CRT) or palliative therapy. The primary end-point was the proportion of patients receiving curative treatment. RESULTS: Thirty-two patients (91%) received curative treatment (11 resections and 21 CRT). 73% and 64% of patients who underwent resection had a major or complete pathological response, respectively. There were 14 recurrences: 2 (18%) in patients who underwent resection, 9 (43%) in patients who received CRT and 3 (100%) in patients who received palliative therapy (median follow-up 17 months). Eight tumour-related deaths occurred: 5 (24%) in patients who received CRT; and 3 (100%) in patients who received palliative therapy. There were no treatment-related deaths. CONCLUSIONS: In locally advanced or oligometastatic NSCLC without a primary curative option, induction immuno(chemo)therapy results in a high rate of curative treatment with promising early survival data. patients who underwent resection achieved a high rate of prognostically favourable pathological response.

Second malignancy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): prevalence and overall survival (OS) in routine clinical practice.

BACKGROUND: Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and a prior or synchronous second malignancy are generally excluded from clinical trials. Therefore, little is known on prevalence and prognosis of these patients. METHODS: 1252 patients diagnosed with NSCLC in our center from 2006 to 2017 were studied. Overall survival (OS) of patients with a prior or synchronous malignancy was compared to controls including case-control analysis. RESULTS: 158 patients (12.6%) had a prior malignancy. The most common sites were prostate (17%), breast (16%), gastrointestinal tract (12%), head and neck (11%), bladder (10%), and lung (8%). Compared to controls, patients with prior malignancy were older (71.3 vs. 67.5 years), but had otherwise better prognostic characteristics (stage I-III 63 vs. 53%). Survival was identical compared to controls [hazard ratio (HR) 1.017, CI 0.776-1.333]. A further 3.5% of patients had a synchronous malignancy including 34% prior lung cancer. Patients with a synchronous malignancy had an earlier stage (I-III 84%), and had longer median OS in unselected patients (38.6 vs. 16.2 months, p = 0.021). However, the case-control analysis showed similar OS [hazard ratio (HR) 0.899, CI 0.497-1.621]. CONCLUSIONS: Prior or synchronous second malignancies are common at diagnosis of NSCLC. The sites reflect the high proportion of smokers in the population. The earlier stage of NSCLC with a second malignancy might be attributed to chance finding of NSCLC during follow-up. The second malignancy does not affect OS of NSCLC. Therefore, the exclusion of patients with second malignancies from NSCLC trials should be reconsidered.

Long-term stable lung function and second uncomplicated pregnancy on sirolimus in lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM).

We present a patient with lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) on long-term sirolimus (now 79 months) who has had a second successful pregnancy. The second pregnancy on uninterrupted low-dose sirolimus (plasma levels 3-5 mg/L) was uncomplicated both with respect to mother and child suggesting that low-dose sirolimus might be safe in selected pregnant patients with stable LAM. The long-term time course in this patient is in agreement with recent reports of a long-term beneficial effect of sirolimus in LAM. In this patient, the pregnancies did not seem to impair the long-term improvement of lung-function on sirolimus.