Lung cancer : journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
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The FDA approved PD-L1 tests for anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy are for surgical or histology specimens. It is not clear if cytology specimens could be used for PD-L1 testing to guide immunotherapy. In this study, we assess the suitability of EBUS-FNA cytology specimens for the testing of PD-L1. ⋯ Of the 265 EBUS-FNA specimens from 262 patients sent for testing, 230 (86.8%) were adequate for PD-L1 testing. Of the 34 NSCLC patients with both histology and EBUS-FNA cytology specimens tested for PD-L1, the results from different specimen types had a concordance of 91.3%. The PD-L1 results from 16 paired specimens from the same anatomic site had 100% agreement. The rates of PD-L1 TPS ≥ 50% were significantly higher in the metastatic tumors in the lymph nodes than in the lung primary lesions. Therefore, EBUS-FNA cytology specimen is suitable for PD-L1 testing in patients with advanced NSCLC. The metastatic tumors in mediastinal lymph nodes appear to have higher PD-L1 expression than primary lesions.
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Brigatinib is a next-generation ALK inhibitor initially developed in ALK-positive NSCLC pretreated with crizotinib. ⋯ These real-world results confirm the efficacy of brigatinib in a cohort of patients heavily pretreated for ALK-positive advanced NSCLC.
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This study aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of pembrolizumab monotherapy compared with chemotherapy as first-line treatment in patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with different tumor proportion scores (TPS), from perspectives of payers in China. ⋯ ICERs yield by pembrolizumab monotherapy among different TPS populations were beyond the threshold we set, three times of the Gross Domestic Product per Capita of China in 2018 ($26,508/QALY). It is not a cost effective choice compared with standard chemotherapy for patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC from the perspective of Chinese payer, regardless of TPS. Deeper discount of its current price would make pembrolizumab a preferable choice.
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The treatment for stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is quite variable because stage III NSCLC is a heterogenous disease. Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and CD8+ tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are thought to be related to treatment outcome in many tumors. To improve treatment outcome in stage III NSCLC, it is necessary to obtain data on PD-L1 expression and CD8+ TIL counts following CCRT and their relationship to treatment outcome. ⋯ CCRT dynamically alters PD-L1 expression and CD8+ TIL numbers in stage III NSCLC. Our data provide a rationale for combining CCRT and immunotherapy for the treatment of potentially resectable NSCLC.
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Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been established as a novel strategy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) therapy. However, a definitive biomarker that can predict response to ICI therapy remains unestablished. The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) is used to assess immune-nutritional conditions and is a prognostic factor in patients with various malignancies; however, its usefulness as a biomarker of response to ICI therapy and survival outcomes in NSCLC patients is unknown. Thus, we retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathological features of advanced-stage or recurrent NSCLC patients treated with ICI therapy to identify predictors of response to ICI therapy and investigate the effects of pretreatment PNI levels on survival after ICI therapy. ⋯ The pretreatment PNI has the potential to be a simple and novel predictive biomarker of ICI response in NSCLC patients and might help to identify patients who will obtain a survival benefit from ICI therapy.