Treatment response, survival, and safety profile of camrelizumab plus apatinib regimen as third-line treatment in metastatic gastric cancer patients.

BACKGROUND:Camrelizumab, as a PD-1 inhibitor on the market recently, presents favorable therapeutic efficacy in several advanced cancers, while its application in metastatic gastric cancer (mGC) lacks data. This study aimed to assess treatment response, survival profile, and adverse events of camrelizumab plus apatinib regimen as third-line treatment in mGC patients. METHODS:Nineteen mGC patients who received camrelizumab plus apatinib as third-line treatment were analyzed in this observational study. Subsequently, treatment response and adverse events were documented, then progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated. RESULTS:No (0.0%) patient achieved complete response; 5 (26.3%) patients achieved partial response; 8 (42.1%) patients had stable disease; 6 (31.6%) patients had progressive disease, resulting in objective response rate and disease control rate of 26.3% and 68.4%, respectively. Meanwhile, the median PFS and OS were 7.0 (95%CI: 2.9-11.0) months and 10.0 (95%CI: 7.4-12.6) months, accordingly. Besides, multiple metastases linked with worse PFS (P = 0.029) and OS (P = 0.021); Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) score 1 (vs. 0) related to shorter OS (P = 0.030). Worth noting, the common adverse events were fatigue (42.1%), anemia (42.1%), neutropenia (42.1%), leukopenia (36.8%), pruritus (31.6%), proteinuria (31.6%), nausea and vomiting (31.6%), reactive capillary hemangioma (31.6%) and thrombocytopenia (31.6%). Meanwhile, grade 3-4 adverse events only included: thrombocytopenia (5.3%), hypertension (5.3%), and proteinuria (5.3%). CONCLUSION:Camrelizumab plus apatinib as third-line treatment achieves satisfactory therapeutic efficacy and survival profile with generally manageable adverse events in mGC patients.