Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Importance
Despite approximately 40% of patients having Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) scores of at least 2 in the real world, most landmark clinical trials that led to the use of pembrolizumab as standard of care in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) excluded this group.Objective
To evaluate whether an ECOG PS score of at least 2 at the start of therapy is associated with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in advanced NSCLC treated with pembrolizumab monotherapy.Design, setting, and participants
This cohort study included all consecutive patients with advanced NSCLC who underwent treatment with palliative pembrolizumab monotherapy from February 2016 to October 2019 at a single academic cancer center, with data censoring on January 15, 2020.Exposures
ECOG PS score at start of therapy, with 0 and 1 indicating fully active or restricted in strenuous activity and scores of 2 and higher indicating increasing disability.Main outcomes and measures
PFS and OS, measured from initiation of pembrolizumab monotherapy.Results
Of 74 patients (median [range] age, 68.5 [33-87] years; 36 [48.7%] women; 53 [71.6%] White individuals) with median follow-up of 19.5 (95% CI, 13.4-27.8) months, 45 (60.8%) had an ECOG PS of 0 or 1, while 29 (39.2%) had an ECOG PS of at least 2. There were no significant differences in the baseline characteristics, except in age. Compared with patients with PS scores of 0 or 1, those with PS scores of at least 2 had significantly lower disease control rates (38 [88.4%] vs 15 [53.6%]; P?=?.002), shorter median PFS (7.9 [95% CI, 4.6-15.4] months vs 2.3 [95% CI, 1.8-4.8] months; P?=?.004), and shorter median OS (23.2 [14.0 vs 35.7] months vs 4.1 [95% CI, 2.1-6.9] months; P?Conclusions and relevanceIn this cohort study, having an ECOG PS score of at least 2 was associated with poorer prognosis for treatment of advanced NSCLC with palliative pembrolizumab monotherapy. Further prospective studies are needed to evaluate more objective and consistent measures of functional status to facilitate identification of patients with borderline performance status who may achieve durable clinical benefit from treatment with pembrolizumab monotherapy.
SUBMITTER: Sehgal K
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7879233 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Sehgal Kartik K Gill Ritu R RR Widick Page P Bindal Poorva P McDonald Danielle C DC Shea Meghan M Rangachari Deepa D Costa Daniel B DB
JAMA network open 20210201 2
<h4>Importance</h4>Despite approximately 40% of patients having Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) scores of at least 2 in the real world, most landmark clinical trials that led to the use of pembrolizumab as standard of care in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) excluded this group.<h4>Objective</h4>To evaluate whether an ECOG PS score of at least 2 at the start of therapy is associated with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in adv ...[more]