Feasibility and safety of PD-1/L1 inhibitors for non-small cell lung cancer in front-line treatment: a Bayesian network meta-analysis
Hengrui Liang, Guo Lin, Wei Wang, Jun Huang, Yilin Yang, Yuting Lan, Runchen Wang, Fei Cui, Zhexue Hao, Hongsheng Deng, Shen Zhao, Bo Cheng, Shan Xiong, Jianfu Li, Caichen Li, Jun Liu, Jianxing He, Wenhua Liang
Abstract
BACKGROUND: This Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) was conducted to compare efficacy and safety of programmed death 1/ligand 1 (PD-1/L1) inhibitors in previous untreated advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. METHODS: Eligible studies evaluating first-line anti-PD-1/L1 based regimens in advanced NSCLC patients were included. Overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), as well as treatment-related severe adverse events (tr-SAE) were synthesized within the Bayesian framework. Subgroup analysis was conducted according to PD-L1 expression. RESULTS: Twelve studies including 7,490 patients and 9 treatment strategies were enrolled in this study. For the PD-L1 expression non-selective patients, all chemo-immunotherapies were significantly better than chemotherapy for prolonging OS and PFS, except for caremlizumab plus chemotherapy (HR =0.72) failed to show advantages for OS. In addition, pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy showed better PFS than nivolumab plus ipilimumab (HR =0.66). In PD-L1 ≥50% patients, all immunotherapy was better than chemotherapy for OS, except for nivolumab (HR =0.83) and nivolumab plus ipilimumab (HR =0.70). For PFS, pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy (HR =0.39), atezolizumab plus chemotherapy (HR =0.47) and pembrolizumab (HR =0.67) were significantly better than chemotherapy. In PD-L1 1-49% patients, pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy (HR =0.52) and atezolizumab plus chemotherapy (HR =0.70) were better than chemotherapy for PFS. In the PD-L1 positive or negative group, all included corresponding regimens were equivalence according to OS and PFS. CONCLUSIONS: We conducted a systematic comparison of first line immunotherapy for advanced NSCLC. Chemo-immunotherapies were better than chemotherapy and mono-immunotherapies in most patients. Pembrolizumab might have better efficacy than other PD-1/L1 inhibitors.