ObjectiveTo analyze the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy and bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy (BIC), bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy (BC), chemotherapy (CT), immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy (IC), bevacizumab combined with immunotherapy (BI), bevacizumab (B) in the first-line treatment of advanced wild-type non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer. MethodsThe PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and Web of Science databases were searched to collect phase Ⅱ/Ⅲ randomized controlled trials (RCTs) related to the objectives of the study from January 2010 to December 1, 2022. After two investigators independently screened the literatures, extracted the data and evaluated the risk of bias of the included studies, a reticular meta-analysis was performed using R 3.6.1 software. ResultsA total of 11 RCTs were finally included, including 5 329 patients and six treatment combinations. Meta-analysis results showed that BIC was superior to CT for progression-free survival (PFS) (HR=0.34, 95% CI 0.18 to 0.69), but BIC did not show a significant advantage over the other groups for overall survival (OS). Bayesian ranking results showed that the BIC group had the greatest probability in terms of OS, PFS, and ORR. Among all programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expressing subgroups, there was no significant difference in OS between BIC, BC, IC, CT, BI, and B. Compared with CT, IC was significantly improved in OS (HR=0.68, 95%CI 0.52 to 0.92), PFS (HR=0.58, 95%CI 0.45 to 0.75), and ORR (HR=0.47, 95%CI 0.33 to 0.66). ConclusionIn the first-line treatment of wild-type advanced non-squamous NSCLC, immunotherapy and bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy may improve the efficacy in the short term, but do not change the long-term survival time. Immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy can significantly improve the survival time and prognosis of patients compared with chemotherapy alone. Due to the limited quantity and quality of the included studies, more high-quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.
ObjectiveTo explore the short-term efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab combined with chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. MethodsThe clinical data of 11 male patients with non-small cell lung cancer who underwent pembrolizumab combined with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from December 2019 to June 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The average age of the patients was 52.0-79.0 (62.0±6.9) years. The imaging data and pathological changes before and after neoadjuvant treatment were compared, and adverse reactions during neoadjuvant treatment were recorded. Objective remission rate (ORR) and main pathological remission rate (MPR) and pathological complete remission rate (pCR) were the main observation endpoints. ResultsAfter preoperative neoadjuvant therapy with pembrolizumab combined with platinum or paclitaxel, all patients successfully underwent thoracoscopic radical resection of lung cancer. The ORR was 72.7%, and the MPR was 81.8%. Among them, 45.5% of patients achieved pCR. The main adverse reactions were hypoalbuminemia, decreased appetite and nausea. The mortality rate within 30 days after surgery was 0, and no tumor metastasis was observed. ConclusionPembrolizumab combined with neoadjuvant chemotherapy is safe and feasible to treat non-small cell lung cancer, and the short-term efficacy is beneficial.
Brain metastases are the most common intracranial malignant tumors in adults. Radiotherapy isa common treatment for brain metastases. In particular, stereotactic radiosurgery can control tumors well, and can significantly reduce the impact on cognitive function compared with whole brain radiation therapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have less toxic side effects in the treatment of patients with advanced tumors, and show good survival advantages. This article introduces radiotherapy, immunotherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors for brain metastases, discusses the mechanism of stereotactic radiosurgery combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors, and its therapeutic value and research progress in brain metastases, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for the better application of stereotactic radiosurgery combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors to brain metastases.
In recent years, immune checkpoint inhibitors have begun to be used in targeted cancer therapy. Despite the favorable results in terms of oncological outcomes, these treatments have been associated with a variety of immune-related adverse events. Neuromuscular disease is more common among adverse events involving the nervous system. With the increasing use of immune checkpoint inhibitors, the early recognition and treatment of neuromuscular immune-related adverse events are very important. In this review, we are focused on the epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of neuromuscular diseases (including peripheral neuropathy, myasthenia gravis, and myositis) caused by immune checkpoint inhibitors, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for improving the diagnosis and treatment ability of users of immune checkpoint inhibitors for such neuromuscular diseases and reducing the disability rate and mortality rate caused by immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have revolutionized the field of oncology by regulating the interaction between immune cells and cancer cells and promoting the disinhibition of the immune system, thus targeting various types of malignant tumors. However, the regulation of the immune system can also trigger related adverse reactions. Currently, there are no specific clinical guidelines for the treatment of these adverse reactions. Treatment decisions largely depend on clinical judgment and experience.The pathogenesis of ICI-related ocular adverse events is not fully understood at present. Further research on the specific mechanisms of action can provide new insights into the early diagnosis and treatment of ICI-related ocular adverse events.
Objective To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) as first-line treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). MethodsPubMed, The Cochrane Library, and EMbase databases were searched for clinical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of ICIs as first-line treatment for NSCLC patients. The search period was from database inception to January 2023. Quality evaluation was conducted using the improved Jadad scale, and meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software. ResultsTwelve RCTs were included, all of which were assessed as high-quality literature, involving a total of 7 121 patients. Meta-analysis results showed that, compared with chemotherapy, ICIs as first-line treatment for NSCLC patients significantly improved median overall survival (OS) [HR=0.72, 95%CI (0.64, 0.80), P<0.001] and median progression-free survival (PFS) [HR=0.65, 95%CI (0.53, 0.78), P<0.001], and improved objective response rate (ORR) [RR=1.52, 95%CI (1.28, 1.79), P<0.001]. Subgroup analysis showed that, compared with the ICIs monotherapy group, the ICIs combination therapy group significantly improved OS, PFS, and ORR in NSCLC patients. In terms of safety, the risk of any grade treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) and grade 3-5 TRAEs in the ICIs group was lower than that in the chemotherapy group. The incidence of TRAEs leading to treatment discontinuation was higher in the ICIs group than in the chemotherapy group. Subgroup analysis showed that the incidence of any grade, grade 3-5, and TRAEs leading to treatment discontinuation was higher in the immune combination therapy group than in the immune monotherapy group. Conclusion ICIs as first-line treatment for NSCLC patients can significantly improve OS, PFS, and ORR compared with chemotherapy. Compared to immune monotherapy, immune combination therapy can significantly improve the efficacy in NSCLC patients, but patients have a higher risk of TRAEs.
Objective To systematically review the efficacy and safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer. Methods The PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP databases were searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone for triple-negative breast cancer from inception to April 1, 2024. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed by using RevMan 5.4 software. Results A total of 13 RCTs involving 5 416 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that the pathologic complete response rate (pCR) (OR=2.09, 95%CI 1.37 to 3.19, P<0.01), progression-free survival (PFS) (HR=0.75, 95%CI 0.67 to 0.83, P<0.01) and overall survival (OS) (HR=0.87, 95%CI 0.79 to 0.96, P<0.01) were significantly better than those in the control group. The results of subgroup analysis showed that there were statistically significant differences in PFS (P<0.01) and OS (P=0.02) between PD-L1-positive and PD-L1-negative patients, but there was no statistically significant difference in pCR between PD-L1-positive patients and PD-L1-negative patients (P=0.36). There was a statistically significant difference in pCR between node-positive patients and node-negative patients (P=0.03). There was no statistically significant difference in pCR between patients treated with PD-1 inhibitors and PD-L1 inhibitors (P=0.32); and there was no significant difference in PFS (P=0.19) or OS (P=0.99) between patients treated with PD-1 inhibitors and PD-L1 inhibitors. Compared with those in the control group, the incidences of serious adverse events (RR=1.36, 95%CI 1.09 to 1.70, P<0.01) and immune-related adverse events (RR=2.98, 95%CI 1.66 to 5.35, P<0.01) were higher in the experimental group, and the common immune-related adverse events were hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism.Conclusion The existing evidence shows that immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with chemotherapy are more effective than chemotherapy alone in the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer, and the combination therapy has a higher incidence of adverse reactions. Due to the limited quantity and quality of the included studies, more high-quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.
ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in treating esophageal cancer patients of different genders. MethodsComputer searches were conducted on PubMed, The Cochrane Library, and EMbase databases to collect randomized controlled trial (RCT) on ICIs treatment for esophageal cancer patients from the establishment of the databases to January 25, 2024. Two researchers independently screened the literature and extracted data according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The outcome indicators were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), and RevMan 5.4 software was used for meta-analysis. The modified Jadad scoring scale was used to evaluate the quality of the included literature. ResultsA total of 10 RCT involving 5364 esophageal cancer patients were included in this study, with 2684 patients in the experimental group and 2680 patients in the control group. The Jadad scores of the included literature were all ≥6 points, indicating high-quality RCT. Meta-analysis results showed that female esophageal cancer patients receiving ICIs treatment [HR=0.72, 95%CI (0.59, 0.87), P<0.001] had a more significant median OS prolongation than male patients [HR=0.73, 95%CI (0.68, 0.78), P<0.001]; while male patients [HR=0.57, 95%CI (0.52, 0.64), P<0.001] had a more significant PFS prolongation than female patients [HR=0.72, 95%CI (0.55, 0.94), P=0.01]. Female patients treated with ICIs alone [HR=0.66, 95%CI (0.50, 0.87), P=0.003] had a more significant median OS prolongation than male patients [HR=0.79, 95%CI (0.72, 0.87), P<0.001]; while male patients receiving ICIs combined with chemotherapy [HR=0.67, 95%CI (0.61, 0.74), P<0.001] had a more significant median OS prolongation than female patients [HR=0.77, 95%CI (0.59, 1.01), P=0.06]. ConclusionFemale patients receiving ICIs have a slight advantage in OS compared to male patients, while male patients have an advantage in PFS. Male patients receiving ICIs combined with chemotherapy have better survival benefits than female patients, while female patients using ICIs monotherapy have better survival benefits than male patients.
Tumor immunotherapy includes immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI), tumor vaccines, and adoptive cell therapy. Immunotherapy, as the main systemic treatment for advanced malignant tumors, kills tumor cells by activating the immune system and prolongs the survival of patients. However, excessive immune responses can cause immune-related adverse events (irAE), causing damage to systemic tissues. ICI are the main tumor immunotherapy drugs that cause optic nerve irAE. The most common optic nerve irAE are optic neuritis, only a few patients appeared arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. Sudden painless loss of bilateral vision is the most common clinical manifestation. In severe cases, the vision decrease to no light perception. Early diagnosis and early adequate glucocorticoid treatment can improve the symptoms. Therefore, neuro-ophthalmologists and oncologists should know the clinical characteristics of optic nerve irAE, in order to diagnose and treat early and improve the prognosis.
Objective To analyze the clinical features of immune checkpoint inhibitor-related pneumonia (CIP) in patients with lung cancer. Methods The case data of patients with CIP admitted to Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University from January 2017 to December 2020 were retrospectively collected, and the basic data, clinical manifestations, imaging data, laboratory examination results, treatment and prognosis of the patients were analyzed. Results The ratio of male to female was 18:1, and the median age was 65 years (from 41 to 74 years). Fourteen patients received a programmed death protein-1 (PD-1) inhibitor and five patients received a programmed death protein-ligand-1 (PD-L1) inhibitor. The median time to CIP was 3.5 months. The respiratory symptoms of 15 patients were dyspnea in 11 cases, cough in 9 cases, chest tightness in 8 cases, fever in 4 cases, expectoration in 4 cases and hemoptysis in 2 cases. Chest CT findings mainly showed interstitial pneumonia, including 8 cases of implicit organizational pneumonia (COP), 7 cases of non-specific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP), 2 cases of acute interstitial pneumonia, and 2 cases of allergic pneumonia. C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and lactate dehydrogenase were higher in CIP than before, and the difference was statistically significant. Follow-up observation was performed in 3 patients alone, 14 patients were treated with glucocorticoid alone, 2 patients were treated with immunosuppressant therapy, 19 patients had stable or more absorption of pneumonia lesions, and 5 patients had restarted immunotherapy. There were no deaths from CIP. Conclusions CIP mainly occurs in men, with slow onset, lack of specificity in clinical manifestations, and increased inflammatory indicators. Imaging findings are mainly NSIP and COP changes. Early identification, diagnosis and rational application of glucocorticoid therapy have good effects.