
Lung cancer and immunotherapy: a real-life experience from second line and beyond
Fady El Karak 1, Fady Gh Haddad 1, Roland Eid 1, Maya Al Ghor 1, Elie El Rassy 1, Nizar Ahmadieh 2, Theresia Choullamy 2, Nour A Halim 3, Arafat Tfayli 3, Fadi Farhat 1, Joseph Kattan 1, Fady Nasr 1, Marwan Ghosn 1, Hazem I Assi 2
Affiliations
1Hematology-Oncology Department, Hotel-Dieu de France University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon.
2Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon.
3Department of Internal Medicine, Hematology & Oncology Division, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
PMID: 31424958 DOI: 10.2217/fon-2019-0144
Abstract
Aim: This study assessed the efficacy of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 agents in real life when used in second line or beyond. Materials & methods: Patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer progressing after standard chemotherapy and receiving immunotherapy in the second line or beyond were included. Results: One hundred and ten patients were included with PD-L1 expression above 50%, between 1-49 and <1% in 38.6, 27.3 and 34.1% of patients, respectively. Checkpoint inhibitors were used as second, third and fourth line in 74.7, 21.8 and 3.5%, respectively. Partial response was observed in 25.6% of patients. Median progression-free survival was 4 months and median overall survival was 8.1 months. Conclusion: Immunotherapies are emerging as important tools in the oncologic field with good responses in real-life practice.
Keywords: checkpoint inhibitors; experience; immunotherapy; lung cancer; non-small-cell lung cancer; real life; real-world; second line.
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