BACKGROUND: Durvalumab consolidation after chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is a standard treatment for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, studies on immunological and nutritional markers to predict progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) are inadequate. Systemic inflammation causes cancer cachexia and negatively affects immunotherapy efficacy, which also reflects survival outcomes.
METHODS: We retrospectively investigated 126 patients from seven institutes in Japan.
RESULTS: The modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS) values, before and after CRT, were the essential predictors among the evaluated indices. A systemic inflammation-based prognostic risk classification was created by combining mGPS values before CRT, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels after CRT, to distinguish tumor-derived inflammation from CRT-induced inflammation. Patients were classified into high-risk (n = 31) and low-risk (n = 95) groups, and the high-risk group had a significantly shorter median PFS of 7.2 months and an OS of 19.6 months compared with the low-risk group. The hazard ratios for PFS and OS were 2.47 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.46-4.19, p < 0.001) and 3.62 (95% CI: 1.79-7.33, p < 0.001), respectively. This association was also observed in the subgroup with programmed cell death ligand 1 expression of ≥50%, but not in the <50% subgroup. Furthermore, durvalumab discontinuation was observed more frequently in the high-risk group than in the low-risk group.
CONCLUSIONS: Combining pre-CRT mGPS values with post-CRT CRP levels in patients with locally advanced NSCLC helps to predict the PFS and OS of durvalumab consolidation after CRT.

UNASSIGNED: Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is currently used more commonly than 3-dimensional conformal radiation for definitive thoracic radiation. We examined the efficacy profiles of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) with IMRT after durvalumab became clinically available.
UNASSIGNED: We reviewed the clinical records of patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with CCRT and IMRT at seven centers in Japan and investigated relapse and survival from May 2018 to December 2019. The primary endpoint of this report was progression-free survival (PFS).
UNASSIGNED: Among 107 patients enrolled in the study, 87 were sequentially administered durvalumab. From CCRT commencement, patients were followed up for a median period of 29.7 months. The median PFS at the end of the CCRT was 20.7 months. Among the 87 patients, 58 experienced disease relapses, of whom 36 (62.1 %) had distant metastases. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that a favorable response to CCRT, a radiation dose ≥ 62 Gy, and stage IIIA NSCLC were associated with prolonged PFS (all P = 0.04). Multivariate logistic regression by landmark analysis revealed that mortality risk factors were durvalumab treatment duration ≤ 11.7 months, a lower maximum grade of immune-related adverse events, FEV1 < 2805 mL, and radiation dose < 62 Gy (P = 0.01, 0.01, 0.03, and 0.04, respectively).
UNASSIGNED: In patients with NSCLC receiving CCRT using IMRT, long PFS was associated with a better response to CCRT, stage IIIA NSCLC, and an increased radiation dose. The duration of durvalumab consolidation also played an essential role in the survival of patients receiving CCRT with IMRT. (250 words).