Gustave Roussy immune score is an independent prognostic factor for treatment response and survival in advanced non-small cell lung cancer treated with nivolumab at second-line therapy

Introduction. This study aimed to determine the prognostic significance of the Gustave Roussy immune score (GRim score) for patients receiving nivolumab as second-line therapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Material and methods. We used serum albumin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) obtained 1 to 7 days before treatment to calculate GRim scores for 105 NSCLC patients. Results. We evaluated the relationship between oncological outcomes and GRim scores. Of the 105 patients, 82 (78.1%) belonged to the low-score group, which had an objective response (OR) of 30 (36.6%), whereas 1 (4.3%) belonged to the high-score group (p = 0.002). In the low-score group, median PFS and OS were 4.7 months (95% CI 3.9–5.4) and 17.9 months (95% CI — NE), respectively, whereas in the high-score group, they were 1.8 months (95% CI 0.1–4.3) and 2.5 months (95% CI 0.1–2.5; p < 0.001), respectively. A low GRim score (HR = 0.30; p = 0.003) and the absence of brain metastases (HR = 0.42; p = 0.02) were essential indicators of PFS in multivariate analysis. From an OS perspective, having an ECOG performance score of 0 (HR = 0.45; p = 0.04), a low GRim score (HR = 0.21; p = 0.001), and a CPS score of ≥ 1 (HR = 0.33; p = 0.01) were independent predictors. Furthermore, there was no discernible relationship (p = 0.73) between the GRim score and the CPS. Conclusions. The findings of our study demonstrate that the GRim score, which is derived from standard laboratory tests conducted on patients, is an affordable and simple prognostic indicator for treatment response and survival in patients with advanced NSCLC receiving nivolumab as second-line therapy.