Outcomes in 36 Patients with Stage IIIA-N2 Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lung Treated with Nab-Paclitaxel Plus Carboplatin as Neoadjuvant Therapy: A Prospective Study from a Single Center

Neoadjuvant Chemoimmunotherapy for NSCLC: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Importance

To date, no meta-analyses have comprehensively assessed the association of neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy with clinical outcomes in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in randomized and nonrandomized settings. In addition, there exists controversy concerning the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy for patients with NSCLC with programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) levels less than 1%.

Objective

To compare neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy with chemotherapy by adverse events and surgical, pathological, and efficacy outcomes using recently published randomized clinical trials and nonrandomized trials.

Data Sources

MEDLINE and Embase were systematically searched from January 1, 2013, to October 25, 2023, for all clinical trials of neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy and chemotherapy that included at least 10 patients.

Study Selection

Observational studies and trials reporting the use of neoadjuvant radiotherapy, including chemoradiotherapy, molecular targeted therapy, or immunotherapy monotherapy, were excluded.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Surgical, pathological, and efficacy end points and adverse events were pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis.

Results

Among 43 eligible trials comprising 5431 patients (4020 males [74.0%]; median age range, 55-70 years), there were 8 randomized clinical trials with 3387 patients. For randomized clinical trials, pooled overall survival (hazard ratio, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.54-0.79; I2 = 0%), event-free survival (hazard ratio, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.52-0.67; I2 = 14.9%), major pathological response (risk ratio, 3.42; 95% CI, 2.83-4.15; I2 = 31.2%), and complete pathological response (risk ratio, 5.52; 95% CI, 4.25-7.15; I2 = 27.4%) favored neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy over neoadjuvant chemotherapy. For patients with baseline tumor PD-L1 levels less than 1%, there was a significant benefit in event-free survival for neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy compared with chemotherapy (hazard ratio, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.62-0.89; I2 = 0%).

Conclusion and Relevance

This study found that neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy was superior to neoadjuvant chemotherapy across surgical, pathological, and efficacy outcomes. These findings suggest that patients with resectable NSCLC with tumor PD-L1 levels less than 1% may have an event-free survival benefit with neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy.

Neoadjuvant immunotherapy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy in resectable non-small cell lung cancer: A systematic review and single-arm meta-analysis

Background

It remains uncertain whether neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitor (nICI) is superior to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (nCT) in resectable non-small cell lung cancer. In addition, there are outstanding questions for nICI such as the ideal treatment mode and predictors.

Methods

PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and scientific meetings were searched for eligible single-arm or multi-arm trials until 31 December 2021. The primary outcomes of interest were major pathological response (MPR) and pathological complete response (pCR). The random-effect model was used for statistical analysis.

Results

Twenty-four trials of nICI (n = 1,043) and 29 trials of nCT (n = 2,337) were identified. nICI combination therapy was associated with higher MPR (63.2%, 95% CI: 54.2%–72.1%) and pCR (35.3%, 95% CI: 27.4%–43.3%) rates compared to nCT (16.2%, 95% CI: 7.5%–25.0%, P < 0.001 and 5.5%, 95% CI: 3.5%–7.5%, P < 0.001) and nICI monotherapy (23.3%, 95% CI: 12.7%–33.8%, P < 0.001, and 6.5%, 95% CI: 1.7%–11.2%, P < 0.001). As for safety, nICI monotherapy had the best tolerability; nICI combination showed a similar surgical resection rate and higher R0 resection rate compared to nCT. PD-1 inhibitor and high PD-L1 expression (≥1% or ≥50%) were correlated with higher MPR and pCR rates compared to PD-L1 inhibitor and PD-L1 expression <1%.

Conclusions

nICI combination therapy is associated with higher MPR and pCR rates compared to nCT and nICI monotherapy. PD-1 inhibitor seems to be superior to PD-L1 inhibitor. PD-L1 status appears to be predictive of MPR and pCR for patients receiving nICI.

Systematic Review Registration

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=278661, CRD42021278661.

Association of Pathologic Complete Response and Long-Term Survival Outcomes Among Patients Treated With Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy or Chemoradiotherapy for NSCLC: A Meta-Analysis

Introduction

Increased efforts to optimize outcomes for early stage NSCLC through the investigation of novel perioperative treatment strategies are ongoing. An emerging question is the role of pathologic response and its association with long-term clinical outcomes after neoadjuvant therapy.

Methods

To investigate the association of pathologic complete response (pCR) and event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS), we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis identifying studies reporting on the prognostic impact of pCR after neoadjuvant chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. To evaluate this prognostic value, an aggregated data (AD) meta-analyses was conducted to estimate the pooled hazard ratios (HRs) of EFS and OS for pCR. Using reconstructed individual patient data (IPD), pooled Kaplan-Meier curves were obtained to estimate this association in a more granular fashion. Subgroup analyses were conducted to further explore the impacts of study-level characteristics.

Results

A total of 28 studies comprising 7011 patients were included in the AD meta-analysis, of which, IPD was available for 6274 patients from 24 studies. Results from our AD meta-analysis revealed a pooled pCR rate of 18% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 15%–21%), including significant improvements in OS (HR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.45–0.56) and EFS (HR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.37–0.57) on the basis of pCR status. Our IPD analysis revealed a 5-year OS rate of 63% (95% CI: 59.6–67.4) for patients with a pCR compared with 39% (95% CI: 34.5–44.5) for those without a pCR.

Conclusions

pCR after neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus or minus radiotherapy is associated with significant improvements in EFS and survival for patients with resectable NSCLC.