BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate programmed death-ligand 1 tumor proportion score in predicting the safety and efficacy of PD-1/PD-L1 antibody-based therapy in treating patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in a real-world setting. METHODS: This retrospective, multicenter, observational study enrolled adult patients who received PD-1/PD-L1 antibody-based therapy in China and met the following criteria: (1) had pathologically confirmed, unresectable stage III-IV NSCLC; (2) had a baseline PD-L1 tumor proportion score (TPS); and (3) had confirmed efficacy evaluation results after PD-1/PD-L1 treatment. Logistic regression, Kaplan-Meier analysis, and Cox regression were used to assess the progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and immune-related adverse events (irAEs) as appropriate. RESULTS: A total of 409 patients, 65.0% ( n = 266) with a positive PD-L1 TPS (≥1%) and 32.8% ( n = 134) with PD-L1 TPS ≥50%, were included in this study. Cox regression confirmed that patients with a PD-L1 TPS ≥1% had significantly improved PFS (hazard ratio [HR] 0.747, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.573-0.975, P = 0.032). A total of 160 (39.1%) patients experienced 206 irAEs, and 27 (6.6%) patients experienced 31 grade 3-5 irAEs. The organs most frequently associated with irAEs were the skin (52/409, 12.7%), thyroid (40/409, 9.8%), and lung (34/409, 8.3%). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that a PD-L1 TPS ≥1% (odds ratio [OR] 1.713, 95% CI 1.054-2.784, P = 0.030) was an independent risk factor for irAEs. Other risk factors for irAEs included pretreatment absolute lymphocyte count >2.5 × 10 9 /L (OR 3.772, 95% CI 1.377-10.329, P = 0.010) and pretreatment absolute eosinophil count >0.2 × 10 9 /L (OR 2.006, 95% CI 1.219-3.302, P = 0.006). Moreover, patients who developed irAEs demonstrated improved PFS (13.7 months vs. 8.4 months, P <0.001) and OS (28.0 months vs. 18.0 months, P = 0.007) compared with patients without irAEs. CONCLUSIONS A positive PD-L1 TPS (≥1%) was associated with improved PFS and an increased risk of irAEs in a real-world setting. The onset of irAEs was associated with improved PFS and OS in patients with advanced NSCLC receiving PD-1/PD-L1-based therapy.
Humans ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/metabolism* ; Male ; Female ; Retrospective Studies ; Middle Aged ; Lung Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Aged ; B7-H1 Antigen/metabolism* ; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor/metabolism* ; Adult ; Aged, 80 and over ; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors/therapeutic use*

Programmed death 1 (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1) serve as crucial targets in cancer immunotherapy, and their inhibitors have significantly improved the prognosis of many patients with malignant tumors. However, the issues of drug resistance and limited overall response rate associated with monotherapy remain prevalent. As a new generation of immune checkpoints, lymphocyte activation gene 3 (LAG-3) synergistically enhances the suppression of T cells alongside PD-1 in various cancers. Combining the blockade of both PD-1 and LAG-3 yields stronger anti-tumor immune effects compared to blocking either target alone, thereby reversing the immunosuppressive state of the tumor microenvironment and reducing the occurrence of resistance. This review covers the structural characteristics of LAG-3 and unveils its specific interactions with PD-1 across multiple cancers, providing a novel reference for overcoming the limitations of single-agent therapy.
Humans ; Neoplasms/immunology* ; Immunotherapy/methods* ; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor/metabolism* ; Lymphocyte Activation Gene 3 Protein ; Antigens, CD/metabolism* ; Animals ; Tumor Microenvironment/immunology* ; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors/therapeutic use*

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of PD-1 inhibitor combined with azacitidine and HAG regimen in the treatment of relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (R/R AML). METHODS: This study is a prospective, single-arm, phase II clinical trial that included R/R AML patients who met the inclusion criteria and were treated at The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from December 2020 to August 2023. Patients could undergo allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) after salvage therapy. The efficacy and safety were evaluated. RESULTS: Twenty patients were enrolled, including 14 males and 6 females, with an average age of (50.7±15.3) years. The overall response rate (ORR) after one cycle of the treatment was 75.0% (15/20), and 35.0% (7/20) of the patients achieved complete remission (CR) or complete remission with incomplete hematologic recovery (CRi) after two cycles of the treatment. Eight patients received allo-HSCT. The main adverse events were hematologic toxicities, and no grade 5 adverse events occurred. CONCLUSION The combination of PD-1 inhibitor, azacitidine, and the HAG regimen is a feasible and relatively safe treatment option for R/R AML, thus, to be worth further study.
Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/drug therapy* ; Azacitidine/administration & dosage* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Adult ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor/antagonists & inhibitors* ; Aged

Programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) inhibitor therapy for lung adenocarcinoma may induce rare but severe hematologic adverse events, including severe anemia. Although glucocorticoids are recommended for managing immune-related adverse events, therapeutic experience with PD-1 inhibitor-induced severe anemia remains limited, and its efficacy and safety have not been fully validated. This article reports a case of advanced lung adenocarcinoma in which severe anemia developed following combination therapy with chemotherapy and PD-1 inhibitor. After comprehensive evaluation, the patient was diagnosed with anemia of inflammation (AI) and achieved significant hemoglobin recovery following high-dose glucocorticoid treatment. These findings may provide new insights into the recognition and management of this rare hematologic toxicity in clinical practice.
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Humans ; Adenocarcinoma of Lung/drug therapy* ; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor/antagonists & inhibitors* ; Anemia/etiology* ; Immunotherapy/adverse effects* ; Lung Neoplasms/immunology* ; Male ; Antibodies, Monoclonal/therapeutic use* ; Middle Aged

Recent data suggest that vascular endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitor (VEGFRi) can enhance the anti-tumor activity of the anti-programmed cell death-1 (anti-PD-1) antibody in colorectal cancer (CRC) with microsatellite stability (MSS). However, the comparison between this combination and standard third-line VEGFRi treatment is not performed, and reliable biomarkers are still lacking. We retrospectively enrolled MSS CRC patients receiving anti-PD-1 antibody plus VEGFRi (combination group, n=54) or VEGFRi alone (VEGFRi group, n=32), and their efficacy and safety were evaluated. We additionally examined the immune characteristics of the MSS CRC tumor microenvironment (TME) through single-cell and spatial transcriptomic data, and an MSS CRC immune cell-related signature (MCICRS) that can be used to predict the clinical outcomes of MSS CRC patients receiving immunotherapy was developed and validated in our in-house cohort. Compared with VEGFRi alone, the combination of anti-PD-1 antibody and VEGFRi exhibited a prolonged survival benefit (median progression-free survival: 4.4 vs. 2.0 months, P=0.0024; median overall survival: 10.2 vs. 5.2 months, P=0.0038) and a similar adverse event incidence. Through single-cell and spatial transcriptomic analysis, we determined ten MSS CRC-enriched immune cell types and their spatial distribution, including naive CD4⁺ T, regulatory CD4⁺ T, CD4⁺ Th17, exhausted CD8⁺ T, cytotoxic CD8⁺ T, proliferated CD8⁺ T, natural killer (NK) cells, plasma, and classical and intermediate monocytes. Based on a systemic meta-analysis and ten machine learning algorithms, we obtained MCICRS, an independent risk factor for the prognosis of MSS CRC patients. Further analyses demonstrated that the low-MCICRS group presented a higher immune cell infiltration and immune-related pathway activation, and hence a significant relation with the superior efficacy of pan-cancer immunotherapy. More importantly, the predictive value of MCICRS in MSS CRC patients receiving immunotherapy was also validated with an in-house cohort. Anti-PD-1 antibody combined with VEGFRi presented an improved clinical benefit in MSS CRC with manageable toxicity. MCICRS could serve as a robust and promising tool to predict clinical outcomes for individual MSS CRC patients receiving immunotherapy.
Humans ; Colorectal Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Male ; Female ; Immunotherapy ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Tumor Microenvironment/immunology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Microsatellite Instability ; Transcriptome ; Single-Cell Analysis ; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor/immunology* ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors/therapeutic use* ; Adult ; Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor/antagonists & inhibitors*

BACKGROUND: The application of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibodies has greatly improved the clinical outcomes of lung cancer patients. Here, we retrospectively analyzed the efficacy of PD-1 antibody therapy in locally advanced non-surgical or metastatic lung cancer patients, and preliminarily explored the correlation between peripheral blood biomarkers and clinical responses. METHODS: We conducted a single center study that included 61 IIIA-IV lung cancer patients who received PD-1 antibody treatment from March 2020 to December 2021, and collected the medical record data on PD-1 antibody first-line or second-line treatment. The levels of multiple Th1 and Th2 cytokines in the patient's peripheral blood serum, as well as the phenotype of peripheral blood T cells, were detected and analyzed. RESULTS: All the patients completed at least 2 cycles of PD-1 monoclonal antibody treatment. Among them, 42 patients (68.9%) achieved partial response (PR); 7 patients (11.5%) had stable disease (SD); and 12 patients (19.7%) had progressive disease (PD). The levels of peripheral blood interferon gamma (IFN-γ) (P=0.023), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) (P=0.007) and interleukin 5 (IL-5) (P=0.002) before treatment were higher in patients of the disease control rate (DCR) (PR+SD) group than in the PD group. In addition, the decrease in absolute peripheral blood lymphocyte count after PD-1 antibody treatment was associated with disease progression (P=0.023). Moreover, the levels of IL-5 (P=0.0027) and IL-10 (P=0.0208) in the blood serum after immunotherapy were significantly increased compared to baseline. CONCLUSIONS Peripheral blood serum IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-5 in lung cancer patients have certain roles in predicting the clinical efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy. The decrease in absolute peripheral blood lymphocyte count in lung cancer patients is related to disease progression, but large-scale prospective studies are needed to further elucidate the value of these biomarkers.
Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Interleukin-5/therapeutic use* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/therapeutic use* ; Retrospective Studies ; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor ; Biomarkers ; Immunotherapy ; Disease Progression ; B7-H1 Antigen

BACKGROUND: The SMARCA4 mutation has been shown to account for at least 10% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In the present, conventional radiotherapy and targeted therapy are difficult to improve outcomes due to the highly aggressive and refractory nature of SMARCA4-deficient NSCLC (SMARCA4-DNSCLC) and the absence of sensitive site mutations for targeted drug therapy, and chemotherapy combined with or without immunotherapy is the main treatment. Effective SMARCA4-DNSCLC therapeutic options, however, are still debatable. Our study aimed to investigate the efficacy and prognosis of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in combination with chemotherapy and chemotherapy in patients with stage III-IV SMARCA4-DNSCLC. METHODS: 46 patients with stage III-IV SMARCA4-DNSCLC were divided into two groups based on their treatment regimen: the chemotherapy group and the PD-1 ICIs plus chemotherapy group, and their clinical data were retrospectively analyzed. Efficacy assessment and survival analysis were performed in both groups, and the influencing factors for prognosis were explored for patients with SMARCA4-DNSCLC. RESULTS: Male smokers are more likely to develop SMARCA4-DNSCLC. There was no significant difference in the objective response rate (76.5% vs 69.0%, P=0.836) between chemotherapy and the PD-1 ICIs plus chemotherapy or the disease control rate (100.0% vs 89.7%, P=0.286). The one-year overall survival rate in the group with PD-1 ICIs plus chemotherapy was 62.7%, and that of the chemotherapy group was 46.0%. The difference in median progression-free survival (PFS) between the PD-1 ICIs plus chemotherapy group and the chemotherapy group was statistically significant (9.3 mon vs 6.1 mon, P=0.048). The results of Cox regression analysis showed that treatment regimen and smoking history were independent influencing factors of PFS in patients with stage III-IV SMARCA4-DNSCLC, and family history was an individual influencing factor of overall survival in patients with stage III-IV SMARCA4-DNSCLC. CONCLUSIONS Treatment regimen may be a prognostic factor for patients with SMARCA4-DNSCLC, and patients with PD-1 ICIs plus chemotherapy may have a better prognosis.
Humans ; Male ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/genetics* ; Lung Neoplasms/genetics* ; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors/therapeutic use* ; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor/genetics* ; Retrospective Studies ; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological/therapeutic use* ; Prognosis ; DNA Helicases/genetics* ; Nuclear Proteins/genetics* ; Transcription Factors/genetics*

Objective: This study systematically explore the efficacy and safety of fourth-generation chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR-T), which express interleukin 7 (IL7) and chemokine C-C motif ligand 19 (CCL19) and target CD19, in relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma. Methods: Our center applied autologous 7×19 CAR-T combined with tirelizumab to treat 11 patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma. The efficacy and adverse effects were explored. Results: All 11 enrolled patients completed autologous 7×19 CAR-T preparation and infusion. Nine patients completed the scheduled six sessions of tirolizumab treatment, one completed four sessions, and one completed one session. Furthermore, five cases (45.5%) achieved complete remission, and three cases (27.3%) achieved partial remission with an objective remission rate of 72.7%. Two cases were evaluated for disease progression, and one died two months after reinfusion because of uncontrollable disease. The median follow-up time was 31 (2-34) months, with a median overall survival not achieved and a median progression-free survival of 28 (1-34) months. Two patients with partial remission achieved complete remission at the 9th and 12th months of follow-up. Therefore, the best complete remission rate was 63.6%. Cytokine-release syndrome and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome were controllable, and no immune-related adverse reactions occurred. Conclusion: Autologous 7×19 CAR-T combined with tirelizumab for treating relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma achieved good efficacy with controllable adverse reactions.
Humans ; Antibodies, Monoclonal/therapeutic use* ; Antigens, CD19 ; Chemokine CCL19 ; Immunotherapy, Adoptive ; Interleukin-7 ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse/therapy* ; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor ; Receptors, Chimeric Antigen

BACKGROUND: As the efficacy of programmed cell death-1/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) inhibitors combined with chemotherapy in curing breast cancer is still controversial, this meta-analysis compares the efficacy and safety of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors combined with chemotherapy and chemotherapy alone in the treatment of breast cancer, which provides guidance for the clinical treatment. METHODS: Relevant studies published as of April 2022 in the various databases including EMBASE, PubMed, and Cochrane Library were selected. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which control patients underwent chemotherapy alone and experimental group patients underwent combination chemotherapy and PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor treatment were included in this investigation. Investigations without complete information, researches from which information could not be extracted, duplicate articles, animal studies, review articles, and systematic reviews were excluded. STATA 15.1 was employed for all statistical analyses. RESULTS: In total, eight eligible studies were identified, revealing that combination chemotherapy and PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor treatment was linked to significant increases in progression-free survival (PFS) relative to chemotherapy alone (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.83, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.70-0.99, P = 0.032) but not overall survival (HR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.80-1.06, P = 0.273). Pooled adverse event rates were also increased within the group of combination treatment relative to the chemotherapy group (risk ratio [RR] = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.03-1.14, P = 0.002). Specifically, nausea rates were lesser within the group of combination treatment relative to the group of chemotherapy (RR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.25-0.92, P = 0.026). Subgroup analyses indicated that the PFS of patients who underwent combination atezolizumab or pembrolizumab and chemotherapy treatment were substantially longer than those of patients who underwent chemotherapy alone (HR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.69-0.89, P ≤0.001; HR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.67-0.92, P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS The pooled results suggest that combination chemotherapy and PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor treatment approaches help prolong PFS in breast cancer patients, but have no statistically significant effect on overall survival (OS). Additionally, combination therapy can significantly improve complete response rate (CRR) compared with chemotherapy alone. However, combination therapy was associated with greater rates of adverse events.
Humans ; B7-H1 Antigen/antagonists & inhibitors* ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors/therapeutic use* ; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor/antagonists & inhibitors* ; Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy*

Objective To develop a CT-based weighted radiomic model that predicts tumor response to programmed death-1(PD-1)/PD-ligand 1(PD-L1)immunotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.Methods The patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated by PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors in the Peking Union Medical College Hospital from June 2015 to February 2022 were retrospectively studied and classified as responders(partial or complete response)and non-responders(stable or progressive disease).Original radiomic features were extracted from multiple intrapulmonary lesions in the contrast-enhanced CT scans of the arterial phase,and then weighted and summed by an attention-based multiple instances learning algorithm.Logistic regression was employed to build a weighted radiomic scoring model and the radiomic score was then calculated.The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve(AUC)was used to compare the weighted radiomic scoring model,PD-L1 model,clinical model,weighted radiomic scoring + PD-L1 model,and comprehensive prediction model.Results A total of 237 patients were included in the study and randomized into a training set(n=165)and a test set(n=72),with the mean ages of(64±9)and(62±8)years,respectively.The AUC of the weighted radiomic scoring model reached 0.85 and 0.80 in the training set and test set,respectively,which was higher than that of the PD-L1-1 model(Z=37.30,P<0.001 and Z=5.69,P=0.017),PD-L1-50 model(Z=38.36,P<0.001 and Z=17.99,P<0.001),and clinical model(Z=11.40,P<0.001 and Z=5.76,P=0.016).The AUC of the weighted scoring model was not different from that of the weighted radiomic scoring + PD-L1 model and the comprehensive prediction model(both P>0.05).Conclusion The weighted radiomic scores based on pre-treatment enhanced CT images can predict tumor responses to immunotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
Humans ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/drug therapy* ; Lung Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; B7-H1 Antigen/therapeutic use* ; Retrospective Studies ; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Immunotherapy