Association of the Metabolic Score Using Baseline FDG-PET/CT and dNLR with Immunotherapy Outcomes in Advanced NSCLC Patients Treated with First-Line Pembrolizumab

• Main Authors: Romain-David Seban, Jean-Baptiste Assié, Etienne Giroux-Leprieur, Marie-Ange Massiani, Michael Soussan, Gérald Bonardel, Christos Chouaid, Margot Playe, Lucas Goldfarb, Boris Duchemann, Laura Mezquita, Nicolas Girard, Laurence Champion
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-08-01
• Series: Cancers
• Subjects: FDG-PET; NSCLC; first-line immunotherapy; derived neutrophils to lymphocytes ratio; total metabolic tumor volume; prognosis
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/12/8/2234

<i>Background</i>: We aimed to assess the clinical utility of a previously published score combining the total metabolic tumor volume (TMTV) on baseline FDG-PET/CT and pretreatment derived from the neutrophils to lymphocytes ratio (dNLR) for prognostication in NSCLC patients undergoing first-line immunotherapy (IT). <i>Methods</i>: In this multicenter retrospective study, 63 advanced NSCLC patients with a PD-L1 tumor proportion score (TPS) ≥50%, who underwent FDG-PET/CT before first-line IT, treated from January 2017 to September 2019, were enrolled. Associations between this score and the progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), disease control rate (DCR), and overall response rate (ORR) were evaluated. <i>Results</i>: The median (m) PFS and mOS were 7.7 (95% CI 4.9–10.6) and 12.1 (8.6–15.6) months, respectively, and DCR and ORR were 65% and 58%, respectively. mOS was 17.9 months (14.6 not reached) for the good group versus 13.8 (95%CI 8.4–18.9) and 6.6 (CI 2.0–11.2) months for the intermediate and poor groups, respectively. mPFS was 15.1 (95%CI 12.1–20.0) months for the good group versus 5.2 (1.9–8.5) and 1.9 (95%CI 1.3–2.5) months for the intermediate and poor groups, respectively. The poor prognosis group was associated with DCR and ORR (<i>p</i> < 0.05). <i>Conclusions</i>: The metabolic score combining TMTV on the baseline FDG-PET/CT scan and pretreatment dNLR was associated with the survival and response in a cohort of advanced NSCLC patients with ≥50% PD-L1 receiving frontline IT.