Association of Immune-Related Adverse Events With Nivolumab Efficacy in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

K. Haratani et al., 2018.

Importance Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) have been associated with the efficacy of PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) inhibitors in patients with melanoma, but whether such an association exists for non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has remained unknown.

Question Are immune-related adverse events associated with outcome of nivolumab treatment in patients with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)?

Findings In this multi-institutional medical record review including 134 patients with advanced or recurrent NSCLC treated with nivolumab monotherapy, landmark and multivariable analyses showed that immune-related adverse events were significantly associated with a better treatment outcome.

Meaning Early recognition and proper management of immune-related adverse events are important to maximize the therapeutic benefit of immune-checkpoint inhibitors in patients with NSCLC.

Haratani, K., Hayashi, H., Chiba, Y., Kudo, K., Yonesaka, K., Kato, R., Kaneda, H., Hasegawa, Y., Tanaka, K., Takeda, M., & Nakagawa, K. (2018). Association of Immune-Related Adverse Events With Nivolumab Efficacy in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer. JAMA Oncology, 4(3), 374–378.

doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2017.2925