Immune-related Liver Injury is a Poor Prognostic Factor in Patients with Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer Treated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Cancer Invest. 2022 Feb;40(2):189-198. doi: 10.1080/07357907.2021.1994586. Epub 2021 Nov 29.

Abstract

It remains unclear whether severe liver immune-related adverse events (liver-irAEs) can affect the prognosis in nonsmall cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients. Of the 365 NSCLC patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), 19 suffered from severe liver-irAEs (grade ≥3). The median time-to-onset of liver-irAEs was 53 days postinjection of the first ICI. The progression-free survival and overall survival of the liver-irAEs group (median 69 and 262 days, respectively) were significantly worse than the nonliver-irAEs group (128 and 722 days; P = 0.010 and P = 0.007; respectively). In conclusion, liver-irAEs were associated with poor prognosis in NSCLC patients.

Keywords: Nonsmall cell lung cancer; immune checkpoint inhibitor; immune-related adverse events; liver injury; prognosis.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / drug therapy*
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / mortality
  • Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury / epidemiology*
  • Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury / mortality
  • Drug Administration Schedule
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors / adverse effects*
  • Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Lung Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Lung Neoplasms / mortality
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Prognosis
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Survival Analysis
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors