Efficacy of Anti-PD1/PD-L1 Therapy (IO) in KRAS Mutant Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients: A Retrospective Analysis.

Background/aim: The role of anti-PD1/PD-L1 therapy (IO) in NSCLC harboring driver mutations is questionable. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of IO in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a KRAS mutation (KRAS ⁺ ).
Patients and Methods: We retrospectively identified NSCLC patients harboring KRAS mutation treated with IO in our Institution. We analyzed the results in comparison to non-KRAS patients.
Results: Among 328 consecutive KRAS ⁺ NSCLC patients, 43 (13.1%) received IO in our Institution. In parallel 117 non-KRAS NSCLC patients treated with IO were selected for comparison. The baseline characteristics were similar between the two groups. No significant difference was observed between KRAS ⁺ and non-KRAS patients in terms of mPFS (4.6 vs. 3.3 months, p=0.58) or OS (8.1 vs. 13.0 months, p=0.38).
Conclusion: KRAS mutations seem to be irrelevant for selecting patients for IO that could be therefore considered an effective therapy for NSCLC patients, independently of KRAS status.
(Copyright© 2020, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)