One-year survival results of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer patients receiving cryotherapy and immunotherapy

<bold>Background:</bold> While immunotherapy offers improved treatment results in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) patients, additional modalities, such as cryotherapy, continue to be explored to further incite the anti-tumour immune response and prolong patient survival. <bold>Aims and objectives:</bold> We aimed to evaluate one-year progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in mNSCLC patients after bronchoscopic cryotherapy and immunotherapy. <bold>Methods:</bold> 45 mNSCLC patients received pembrolizumab, with or without platinum based chemotherapy, based on PD-L1 tumor proportion score. 23 patients underwent bronchoscopic cryotherapy one week before systemic treatment. Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate median PFS and OS. Cox regression analysis was used to measure hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). <bold>Results:</bold> Median PFS was 41 weeks in the cryotherapy group versus 26 weeks in the control group and did not differ significantly between groups (HR = 0.75; 95% CI 0.35‒1.61) (Fig. 1a). Meanwhile, median OS was not reached, although cryotherapy group had a lower risk of death than the control group (HR = 0.30; 95% CI 0.09‒0.97) (Fig. 1b). <fig><object-id>erj;66/suppl_69/PA5013/F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><graphic></graphic></fig> Figure 1. Progression-free and overall survival. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> Cryotherapy may prolong overall survival in patients receiving immunotherapy, possibly supporting an anti-tumour immune response which continues during further lines of systemic treatment.