A retrospective comparative cohort study: concurrent versus consolidative immunotherapy with chemoradiotherapy in EGFR- or ALK-negative unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: The treatment of stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is very challenging because it is a heterogeneous group of diseases. This study was to investigative whether concurrent immunotherapy with chemoradiotherapy was associated with improved outcomes compared to consolidative immunotherapy following chemoradiotherapy in patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC, which may provide evidence-based medical evidence for the treatment of stage III NSCLC.
Methods: A total of 78 epidermal growth factor receptor or anaplastic lymphoma kinase (EGFR/ALK) negative patients from the clinical database of the shanghai pulmonary hospital with locally advanced unresectable NSCLC and we evaluated them for baseline clinical factors, follow-up. Patients underwent concurrent immunotherapy with chemoradiotherapy or consolidative immunotherapy after chemoradiotherapy. Patients were classified based on initial site of progression (primary versus non-primary site). The study endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) and time to death or distant metastasis (TDDM). Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to assess the factors affecting PFS and TDDM.
Results: The median follow-up time for both groups was 26 months, and there was no significant difference in baseline clinical characteristics (P>0.05). The patients receiving concurrent immunotherapy (n=36) had a longer PFS than those receiving consolidative immunotherapy (n=42) (median 32.4 vs. 15.5 months; P<0.01). The TDDM was also longer in patients with concurrent immunotherapy than those with consolidative immunotherapy (median 57.3 vs. 31.0 months; P=0.01). Furthermore, in a subset of patients with initial site of progression at a non-primary-site, patients undergoing concurrent immunotherapy had longer PFS than those undergoing consolidative immunotherapy (median 22.7 vs. 11.9 months; P=0.03).
Conclusions: Concurrent immunotherapy with chemoradiotherapy may be associated with improved disease progression outcomes as compared to consolidative immunotherapy following chemoradiotherapy.
Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://tlcr.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/tlcr-23-575/coif). C.G. received payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events for MSD, BMS, Amgen, Novartis, Astra Zeneca, Roche, Sanofi, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Takeda, Boehringer. C.G. reports participation on a Data Safety Monitoring Board or Advisory Board for MSD, BMS, Amgen, Novartis, Astra Zeneca, Roche, Sanofi, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Takeda, Boehringer, Karyopharm, GSK and received consulting fees for Menarini. H.S.P. has received institutional grants from RefleXion and Merck, and personal fees from AstraZeneca (consulting, advisory board), Bristol Myers Squibb (honoraria), Daiichi Sankyo (honoraria), G1 Therapeutics (honoraria), Galera (advisory board), and RefleXion (consulting). The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
(2023 Translational Lung Cancer Research. All rights reserved.)