• Monica Khunger, Prantesh Jain, Sagar Rakshit, Vinay Pasupuleti, Adrian V Hernandez, James Stevenson, Nathan A Pennell, and Vamsidhar Velcheti.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH.
• Clin Lung Cancer. 2018 May 1; 19 (3): e335-e348.

IntroductionProgrammed death 1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors show significant clinical activity in non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). However, there is a relative lack of data on comparative efficacy of these drugs in the first-line setting versus chemotherapy-treated patients. We compared the efficacy and toxicity of these drugs in these 2 distinct groups of patients.Materials And MethodsElectronic databases (PubMed-Medline, EMBASE, Scopus) and major conference proceedings were systematically searched for all phase I to III clinical trials in NSCLC using PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. Objective response rate (ORR) and progression-free survival (PFS) data were collected and combined using DerSimonian and Laird random effects model meta-analysis. The I2 statistic was used to assess heterogeneity.ResultsSeventeen distinct trials (8 with treatment-naive patients [n = 937]; 14 with chemotherapy-treated patients [n = 3620]; 5 with separate treatment-naive and previously treated arms) were included. Treatment-naive patients had a statistically significant higher ORR (30.2%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 22.70-38.2) than patients previously treated with chemotherapy (ORR, 20.1%; 95% CI, 17.5-22.9; P = .02). No significant differences in PFS were observed between the 2 groups. Treatment-naive patients had statistically significant higher rates of all grade pneumonitis compared with previously treated patients (4.9%; 95% CI, 3.4-6.7 vs. 3.0%; 95% CI, 2.0-4.1; P = .04); however, no significant differences in any other immune-related adverse events were observed.ConclusionPD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor therapy for advanced NSCLC has a significantly higher ORR and a higher rate of immune-mediated pneumonitis when used in the first-line setting compared with chemotherapy treated patients.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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