While immune checkpoint inhibitors have become standard of care for patients with non-small cell lung cancer, clinical trials evaluating these treatments often exclude elderly patients.  

Age may not be a deciding factor in the survival benefit for the treatment, according to a study presented at the IASLC 2021 World Conference on Lung Cancer. 

Using The National Cancer Database, the researchers evaluated the overall survival of patients compared to those who did not receive immune checkpoint inhibitors.  

Multivariable Cox modeling showed the benefit of ICI for patients 75 and older. The authors noted the hazard ratio for these patients was 0.61 for patients over 75 and 0.68 for those under 75.  

Shinkichi Takamori, MD, PhD, National Hospital Organization, Kyushu Cancer Center, and colleagues noted that in univariate analysis, the patients over the age of 75 treated with the inhibitors “had a significantly longer OS than those without ICIs.”  

The median overall survival in the drug arm was 11.9 months compared to 5.4 months, with a hazard ratio of 0.61. The hazard ratio for patients under 75 was 0.67.  

The impact of age ≥ 75 on OS by univariate analysis was smaller in those with ICIs than those without. 

Their results show that chronological age “does not appear to impact on survival benefit of ICIs in stage IV NSCLC,” in a release about the research. 


References: 
Takamori S, Komiya T, Powell E. Survival benefit from immunocheckpoint inhibitors in stage IV non-small cell lung cancer ≥ 75 years old. The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2021 World Conference on Lung Cancer. Session MA02. 

https://en.prnasia.com/releases/apac/immune-checkpoint-inhibitors-convey-survival-benefit-in-elderly-patients-with-stage-iv-non-small-cell-lung-cancer-332514.shtml

Images: Getty Images, Pixabay 
Disclosures: MD /alert could not confirm financial disclosures at the time of reporting. 


By Adam Hochron