Impact of response on survival according to type of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Response is a surrogate marker of survival used to determine the efficacy of cancer chemotherapy. However, it is unclear whether the impact of the response on survival depends on the ICI type. This study aimed to assess whether the impact of response on survival differed by the ICI type. We conducted a study on 137 patients who received ICIs (pembrolizumab or atezolizumab) plus chemotherapy for chemotherapy-naïve advanced NSCLC. We analyzed the association between response and survival for each type of ICIs. In the response group, the pembrolizumab-based regimen had significantly more prolonged PFS than the atezolizumab-based regimen (48.1 vs. 8.6 months, P < 0.01). OS was also significantly different between the two groups (Not reached vs. 32.5 months, P = 0.04). Multivariate analysis showed that the pembrolizumab regimen reduced the risk of disease progression by 63% compared to the atezolizumab regimen. The impact of the response on survival differs according to the ICI type.