Efficacy and safety of immune checkpoint blockade in self-identified Black patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND

To the authors' knowledge, race-based differences in efficacy for the treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have not been studied to date due to the underrepresentation of patients of minority backgrounds in pivotal trials. In the current study, the authors examined real-world differences in outcome in a diverse patient population.

METHODS

The authors retrospectively analyzed the clinical outcomes of patients with advanced NSCLC who were treated with single-agent immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) between 2013 and July 2018 at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Primary efficacy comparison between Black patients and White patients was performed using bivariate and multivariate analyses for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).

RESULTS

Data from 257 patients were analyzed. The median age of the patients was 69 years; 50.6% of the patients were female, 63.4% were White, 29.5% were Black, and 7.1% of the patients were of "other" race. ICB was the first-line treatment in 51 patients (19.9%), the second-line treatment in 161 patients (62.6%), and the third-line treatment in 33 patients (12.9%). The most commonly used agents were nivolumab (49.0%), pembrolizumab (25.2%), and atezolizumab (21.3%). No differences with regard to OS (P = .839) and PFS (P = .235) were noted between Black and White patients. The sample overall response rate was 20.6% (15.2% in Black patients and 23.1% in White patients). No differences with regard to OS (P = .081) and PFS (P = .176) were observed between female and male patients. The rate of immune-related adverse events was found to be similar in Black and White patients (20.0% vs 29.9%; P = .148). On multivariate analysis, race was not found to be significantly associated with OS or PFS.

CONCLUSIONS

Real-world analysis of the authors' institutional experience demonstrated similar efficacy and tolerability of ICB in Black versus White patients with advanced NSCLC. Larger multi-institutional studies including other US minority populations would make the findings of the current study more generalizable.

Evaluating the role of race in outcome of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI): Our institutional experience

9042

Background: Race-based differences in ICI efficacy for advanced NSCLC have not been studied due to under-representation of patients of minority background in pivotal trials. We systematically explored real-world differences in outcome in our diverse patient population. Methods: This is a retrospective review of clinical outcome of patients with advanced NSCLC treated with single-agent ICI between 2013 and July 2018 at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. We performed univariate and multivariate analyses for overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) patients according to self-reported race and of OS according to gender and PD-L1 expression levels. Results: We analyzed clinical data from 90 eligible patients: Median age of 68.5 yrs, 51% male, White (W)/Black(B)/Asians(A) made up 62.3%/30.7%/5%; 36.5% had brain metastasis at the time of ICI initiation. The majority (85.9%) had ECOG PS ≤2; ICI was 1st line in 15 (16.9%), 2nd line in 59 (66.3%), 3rd line in 12 (13.5%) and nivolumab was the most commonly used agent (41.1%) followed by atezolizumab (32.2%) and pembrolizumab (26.7%). The median OS for the entire population was not reached (NR) (95%CI: 15.6, NR) while 12-month and 24-month OS rates were 63.8% (52.8%, 72.8%) and 53.1% (40.2%, 64.4%). The median OS, 12-month and 24-month OS rates for W and B respectively, were 23.6 months vs. NR; HR: 1.02 (95%CI: 0.51-2.04), p = 0.9571; 61.8% (47.7%, 73.2%) vs. 59.3% (38.6%, 75.0%) and 46.0% (27.9%, 62.4%) vs. 53.9% (32.8%, 70.9%). The overall response rate was 16.7%; 23.8% vs. 11% for B and W respectively. The median duration of response was comparable at 3.36 months vs. 2.94 months for W and B. The median PFS and 12-month PFS rate for W and B respectively were 5.5 (3.2, 14.8) vs. 3.0 (1.4, 10.7) months, p = 0.1350 and 40.0% (27.1%, 52.5%) vs. 29.6% (14.1%, 47.0%). Conclusions: Real-world analysis of our institutional experience showed no significant racial disparity in advanced NSCLC patients treated with ICI. Larger multi-institutional studies to include other US minority population would make our findings generalizable.