scholarly journals The benefits and risks of pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy as first-line therapy in small-cell lung cancer: a single-arm meta-analysis of noncomparative clinical studies and randomized control trials

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiangyun Liu ◽  
Yixuan Zhang ◽  
Miaowen Liu ◽  
Ruoxin Xu ◽  
Fengming Yi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Although pembrolizumab has shown clinical benefit in patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), its actual efficacy in combination with a conventional chemotherapy drug has not been determined. We performed this study to discern the efficacy and risk of pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy as first-line therapy in SCLC patients. Methods We systematically searched the PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases for relevant studies. The main outcomes were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Results We identified 2980 articles and included 6 studies (5 were noncomparative open-label studies and 1 was a randomized controlled trial [RCT]) involving 396 patients in our meta-analysis. The pooled median OS (mOS) was 9.6 months (95% CI, 8.0-11.2), and the pooled median PFS (mPFS) was 4.2 months (95% CI, 2.2-6.1). The 1-year overall survival rate (OSR-1y) and 6-month progression-free survival rate (PFSR-6m) were 45.1% (95% CI, 33-57.2%) and 41.6% (95% CI, 24.3-59%), respectively. The objective response rate (ORR) was 38.8% (95% CI, 11.9-65.67%), disease control rate (DCR) was 69.30% (95% CI, 51.6-87.0%), complete response (CR) was 2.20% (95% CI, 0.8-3.7%), partial response (PR) was 34.70% (95% CI, 7.8-61.5%), and stable disease (SD) was 20.90% (95% CI, 9.1-32.6%). The grade 3-4 adverse effect (AE) rate was 20.88% (95% CI, 1.22-54.85%). The most common AEs were neutropenia (90.16%), anemia (53.21%), dysphagia (41.96%), platelet count decrease (34.87%), and esophagitis (32.89%); severe AEs included neutropenia, respiratory failure, pneumonitis, acute coronary syndrome, and colitis/intestinal ischemia. Conclusions The combination of pembrolizumab with conventional chemotherapy is an effective therapeutic schedule with acceptable and manageable efficacy and toxicity in patients with SCLC. More high-quality and well-designed RCTs with large sample sizes are warranted to further validate our findings.

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (24) ◽  
pp. 2857-2871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Franek ◽  
Joseph C Cappelleri ◽  
Kelly A Larkin-Kaiser ◽  
Keith D Wilner ◽  
Rickard Sandin

Here, we compare the relative clinical efficacy of EGFR-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors ( EGFR TKIs) for EGFR-positive advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The authors systematically searched 11 electronic databases from January 2004 to August 2018 for randomized controlled trials measuring clinical efficacy of first-line TKI therapies. Clinical efficacy outcomes included overall survival and progression-free survival. Bayesian network meta-analysis was used to assess the relative efficacy of first-line EGFR TKIs for overall survival and progression-free survival. This network meta-analysis showed that dacomitinib and osimertinib resulted in improved efficacy outcomes compared with afatinib, erlotinib and gefitinib. Both osimertinib and dacomitinib should be considered as standard first-line treatment options for patients diagnosed with advanced EGFR-positive non-small-cell lung cancer.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e20565-e20565
Author(s):  
Alfredo Addeo ◽  
Giuseppe Luigi Banna ◽  
Giulio Metro ◽  
Massimo Di Maio

e20565 Background: Checkpoint inhibitors plus platinum-based chemotherapy have shown superiority compared to chemotherapy alone as first-line therapy in advanced non–small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC),To evaluate the relative benefit in term of Overall Survival (OS) and Progression-free Survival (PFS) of checkpoint inhibitors plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone, overall and in subgroups defined by PDL1 expression we have performed a meta-analysis Methods: This meta-analysis searched PubMed and checked references of the selected English language articles to identify further eligible trials. Furthermore, proceedings of the main International meetings (American Society of Clinical Oncology [ASCO] annual meeting, European Society of Medical Oncology [ESMO] annual meeting, International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer [IASLC] World Conference on Lung Cancer), were searched from 2010 onwards for relevant abstracts. Data collection for this study took place from October 1 to October 24, 2018. Results: In total, 8 trials involving 4646 patients with advanced NSCLC, 3.314 (71%) and 1.332 (29%) with a non-squamous and squamous histology, respectively, were included in this meta-analysis. Four trials used atezolizumab, 3 pembrolizumab and 1 nivolumab, accounting for 2.985 (64%), 1.298 (28%) and 363 (8%) of patients, respectively. Checkpoint inhibitors plus chemotherapy were associated with prolonged OS, compared with chemotherapy in the ITT population (HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.64-0.87; p = 0.0002, with significant heterogeneity among trials). Within the PDL1 low group (1-49) there was a significant heterogeneity (p = 0.06) between type of drug and efficacy: the combination of chemotherapy plus pembrolizumab showed an OS benefit (HR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.40-0.78; P< .00007) unlike the atezolizumab backbone trials (HR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.62-1.37; P< 0.69). However, checkpoint inhibitors plus chemotherapy were associated with prolonged PFS in the ITT (HR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.56-0.66; P < 0.00001) and across PDL1 subgroups. Conclusions: Checkpoint inhibitors plus chemotherapy compared with chemotherapy, are associated with significantly prolonged OS and PFS in first-line therapy in NSCLC. In the low PDL1 subgroups the benefit was statistically significant only in the pembrolizumab backbone trials.


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