Multicenter retrospective study of immunotherapy or chemoimmunotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer in older adults

Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) plus chemotherapy combination treatment (ICI-chemotherapy) is standard for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC) without targetable oncogene alterations, but there are few data on ICI-chemotherapy for aNSCLC in patients aged 75 years or older. A retrospective cohort study at 58 centers in Japan compared ICI-chemotherapy versus ICI alone in older adults with previously untreated aNSCLC. There was no significant OS difference between the two groups before or after propensity score matching, but grade 3 or higher immune-related adverse events were more frequent with IC-chemotherapy than with ICI alone. The authors conclude that ICI alone may be recommended for older adults with PD-L1 positive aNSCLC.