Similar Efficacy Observed for First-Line Immunotherapy in Racial/Ethnic Minority Patients With Metastatic NSCLC

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Immunotherapy Research
• Lung Cancer Studies

Background:

• Limited immunotherapy data exists for ethnic minority patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) due to trial underrepresentation.
• This study addresses the gap by evaluating demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical factors in metastatic NSCLC patients receiving first-line immunotherapy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of race/ethnicity on outcomes in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with first-line immunotherapy.
• To identify demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical factors influencing overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and time to discontinuation (TTD).

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study of 248 patients with metastatic NSCLC treated with first-line immunotherapy.
• Analysis of overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and time to discontinuation (TTD) based on race/ethnicity and clinical factors.
• Multivariate analysis to identify significant predictors of OS and PFS.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in OS, PFS, or TTD were observed among different racial/ethnic groups.
• ECOG performance status (PS) <2 was associated with longer OS (P<.0001).
• PD-L1 expression (P=.03) and BMI (P=.01) correlated with PFS; ECOG PS (P<.0001) and BMI (P=.02) correlated with TTD. ECOG PS was the sole significant variable in multivariate analysis for OS and PFS.

Conclusions:

• Immunotherapy provides similar benefits across diverse racial and ethnic groups for metastatic NSCLC.
• ECOG performance status is a key predictor of overall survival, while PD-L1 expression and BMI influence progression-free survival and treatment discontinuation.
• Findings aid in identifying factors affecting immunotherapy outcomes in NSCLC patients.