Safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with cancer and pre-existing autoimmune disease

2638 Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), such as programmed death(ligand)1 (PD-(L)1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitors, have dramatic effects on treatment in patients with various malignancies. High tumor mutation burden (TMB) is predictive of clinical response to ICI in multiple cancer types. Although age-related immune dysfunction might induce difference on the efficacy of ICIs between younger and older patients, the potential effect of age on the efficacy of ICIs remains little known and controversial. Herein, we aimed to analysis the association between age and the efficacy of ICIs based on MSKCC cohort. Methods: We screened out 1661 patients having complete information with advanced cancer, whose tumors underwent next-generation sequencing (NGS) detection and who were treated with at least one dose of ICI in MSKCC cohort. All patients were divided into two groups according to age, the younger group (age ≤50-year old) and the older group (age > 50-year old). We further analyzed the differences in overall survival (OS) and TMB between the two groups. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated via Cox regression model for OS and P-values were calculated via the Wilcoxon sign test for TMB. We analyzed the effect of age on ICI in lung cancer using the same way. Results: In 1661 patients with cancer in our study, 312 (19%) younger and 1349 (81%) older patients were found. The pooled HRs for OS was 1.28 (95% CI: 1.09-1.52) in younger group compared with older group. In 1661 patients with cancer, there was 350 (21%) patients with lung cancer, including 30 (9%) younger and 320 (91%) older patients. The pooled HRs for OS was 1.45 (95% CI: 0.95-2.23) in younger group compared with older group in lung cancer. In addition, TMB in older group was higher than in younger group and significant difference of TMB was found via the Wilcoxon sign test (p = 2.6e-10) between the two groups, especially in lung cancer (p = 1e-4). Conclusions: Our study assessed the impact of age on the efficacy of ICIs using the threshold of 50 years old for the first time and we founded that patients in older group had higher TMB and longer OS than younger group.

Download Full-text

The association between albumin-globulin ratio (AGR) and survival in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors

Cancer Biomarkers ◽

10.3233/cbm-210349 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Deniz Can Guven ◽

Oktay Halit Aktepe ◽

Melek Seren Aksun ◽

Taha Koray Sahin ◽

Gozde Kavgaci ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Immune Checkpoint ◽

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽

Multivariate Analyses ◽

Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽

Progression Free Survival ◽

Free Survival ◽

Patients With Cancer ◽

Early Progression ◽

Term Benefit

BACKGROUND: The albumin-globulin ratio (AGR) could be a prognostic biomarker in patients with cancer, although the data is limited in patients treated with immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the association between AGR and survival in ICI-treated patients. METHODS: The data of 212 advanced-stage patients were retrospectively evaluated in this cohort study. The association between AGR with overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were evaluated with multivariate analyses. Additionally, receptor operating curve (ROC) analysis was conducted to assess the AGR’s predictive power in the very early progression (progression within two months) and long-term benefit (more than twelve months survival). RESULTS: The median AGR was calculated as 1.21, and patients were classified into AGR-low and high subgroups according to the median. In the multivariate analyses, patients with lower AGR (< 1.21) had decreased OS (HR: 1.530, 95% CI: 1.100–2.127, p= 0.011) and PFS (HR: 1.390, 95% CI: 1.020–1.895, p= 0.037). The area under curve of AGR to detect early progression and long-term benefit were 0.654 (95% CI: 0.562–0.747, p= 0.001) and 0.671 (95% CI: 0.598–0.744, p< 0.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience, survival with ICIs was impaired in patients with lower AGR. Additionally, the AGR values could detect the very early progression and long-term benefit ICIs.

Download Full-text

Abstract 14600: Pre-existing Autoimmune Disease and the Risk for Cardiovascular and Non-cardiovascular Immune Mediated Adverse Events With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.142.suppl_3.14600 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽

Author(s):

Charlotte Lee ◽

Zsofia D Drobni ◽

Amna Zafar ◽

Raza M Alvi ◽

Sean P Murphy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Coronary Artery ◽

Autoimmune Disease ◽

Adverse Events ◽

Immune Checkpoint ◽

Cardiovascular Events ◽

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽

Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽

Skin Toxicity ◽

Significant Difference

Introduction: The use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is associated with an increase in cardiovascular events. The mechanism is likely related to immune activation and inflammation. Patients with pre-existing autoimmune disease have a baseline increased risk for cardiovascular disease and have been traditionally excluded from clinical trials of ICIs. There is limited data on the cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular safety of ICIs in these patients. Methods: This was a retrospective study of 2845 patients treated with an ICI at the Massachusetts General Hospital. This cohort was screened by individual chart review for patients with a diagnosis of an autoimmune disease prior to ICI therapy. These autoimmune patients were compared to controls at a 1:2 ratio. Baseline characteristics and risk of cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular immune related adverse events (iRAEs) were compared. Cardiovascular events were a composite of myocardial infarction (MI), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA), deep venous thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), or myocarditis. Results: 93 patients had a diagnosis of an autoimmune disease prior to ICI. These patients were more likely to be older and to have a history of coronary artery disease, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, hypertension and diabetes mellitus. There were 12 events over a median follow-up period of 300 days. There was no significant difference in composite of cardiovascular events in follow-up (13 vs. 9.1%, autoimmune vs. none, P =0.41). The individual cardiovascular event rates were as follows: MI (4.3 vs. 0.5%, P =0.04), PCI (0 vs. 0.5%, P =1), CABG (0. vs. 0.5%, P =1), stroke (0 vs. 0%), TIA (0 vs. 0.5%, P =1), DVT (5.4 vs. 2.2%, P =0.17), PE (1.1 vs. 4.8%, P =0.17), and myocarditis (2.2 vs. 1.1%, P =0.60). There was an increased rate of pneumonitis (14 vs. 4%, P <0.001) and skin toxicity (16 vs. 0%, P <0.001). Conclusions: Patients with pre-existing autoimmune disease treated with an ICI had a higher baseline cardiovascular risk but did not have a significant increase in cardiovascular events in an unadjusted analysis. These patients did, however, have an increased rate of pneumonitis and skin toxicity after ICI.

Download Full-text