Effect of PD-L1 Expression for the PD-1/L1 Inhibitors on Non-small Cell Lung Cancer: A Meta-analysis Based on Randomised Controlled Trials

• Published in: Clinical oncology (Royal College of Radiologists (Great Britain)) 2023-10, Vol.35 (10), p.640-651
• Main Authors: Xu, Z., Liang, J., Fu, R., Yang, L., Xin Chen, Y., Ren, W., Lu, Y., Qiu, X., Gu, Q.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: immunotherapy; meta; NSCLC; PD-1/L1; prognosis; TPS
• ISSN: 0936-6555; 1433-2981
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clon.2023.07.012

As PD-L1 expression has been proposed as one of the cancer biomarkers for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the predictive value of tumour proportional score (TPS) in the effect of immunotherapy [programmed death protein-1/ligand 1 (PD-1/L1) inhibitors] for NSCLC is worth exploring further. Here, we aimed to summarise the outcomes of current NSCLC randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and explore the predictive value of TPS in clinical immunotherapy, including immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) with or without chemotherapy. RCTs published by PubMed, Medline, Embase and Scopus before February 2023 comparing immunotherapy (PD-1/L1 with or without other therapy) versus a control group in advanced or metastatic NSCLC were included to assess the prognosis according to the patients' TPS with 1% and 50% as the thresholds. The primary endpoints were overall survival and progression-free survival. In total, 28 RCTs containing 17 266 participants with advanced or metastatic NSCLC were included in this meta-analysis. Statistical results showed that compared with TPS