Combination Immunotherapy Shows Promise in relapsed Small Cell Lung Cancer, Biomarkers Identified
[City, State] – A new observational study suggests that combining immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) with anti-angiogenic therapy significantly improves progression-free survival (PFS) and disease control rates in patients with relapsed small cell lung cancer (SCLC) compared to anti-angiogenic therapy alone. Researchers also identified potential biomarkers that could predict treatment response and prognosis.
SCLC is an aggressive cancer with limited treatment options once it recurs after initial therapy. this study, conducted at a single center, evaluated 61 patients who received either ICIs plus anti-angiogenic therapy (40 patients) or anti-angiogenic monotherapy (21 patients) following first-line treatment failure.
The combination therapy group demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in PFS, achieving 4.0 months versus 2.7 months in the monotherapy group (p = .029).Disease control rate was also higher in the combination group (77.5% vs. 52.4%, p = .044). Importantly, safety profiles were comparable between the two groups, with low incidence of severe adverse events (AEs).
Beyond treatment efficacy,the research team investigated potential predictors of response. Analysis of clinicopathological factors,plasma proteomics,and extracellular vesicle (EV) membrane proteins revealed associations between four clinicopathological factors – liver metastases,baseline neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels,smoking history,and sex - and both PFS and therapy response.Furthermore, eight plasma proteins were also linked to treatment outcomes. Notably, interleukin-12, a protein found on the membrane of EVs, emerged as a potential biomarker indicating a poorer prognosis.
The findings suggest that ICIs combined with anti-angiogenic therapy represent a promising treatment strategy for relapsed SCLC, and that identifying predictive biomarkers could personalize treatment approaches for improved patient outcomes.
Keywords: anti‐angiogenic therapy; effectiveness; immune checkpoint inhibitors (icis); prognostic biomarker; small cell lung cancer (SCLC).