Korean Real-World Data on Patients With Unresectable Stage III NSCLC Treated With Durvalumab After Chemoradiotherapy:...

This study aimed to investigate real-world evidence for efficacy and safety of durvalumab consolidation (DC) after chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC.

Patients with stage III NSCLC who started DC after CRT between September 2018 and December 2020 and were treated at five tertiary hospitals in the Republic of Korea were included. The primary end point was real-world progression-free survival (rwPFS). Secondary end points were overall survival, objective response rate, and adverse events including radiation pneumonitis (RP) and immune-related adverse events (irAEs).

A total of 157 patients were enrolled. At the median follow-up of 19.1 months, median rwPFS of DC was 25.9 months (95% confidence interval: 16.5-35.4) and the 1-, 2-, and 3-year rwPFS rates were 59.4%, 51.8%, and 43.5%, respectively. The median overall survival was not mature, and objective response rate of DC was 51.0%. High programmed death-ligand 1 expression (≥50%) and development of RP requiring steroid treatment were significantly associated with longer (p = 0.043) and shorter rwPFS (p = 0.036), respectively. RP, RP requiring steroid treatment, and irAEs developed in 57 (36.3%), 42 (26.8%), and 53 (33.8%) patients, respectively. Among peripheral blood cell counts at the initiation of DC, a high derived monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio was the most significant risk factor for the development of RP requiring steroid treatment (OR 44.76, 95% CI: 8.89-225.43, p < 0.001) and irAEs (OR 2.85, 95% CI: 1.27-6.41, p = 0.011).

Compared with the outcome of the PACIFIC trial, these real-world data revealed favorable survival benefits of DC after CRT in patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC. Blood-based biomarkers could predict higher-grade RP and irAEs before the initiation of DC.