First-Line Pembrolizumab Plus Chemotherapy for Advanced Squamous NSCLC: Real-World Outcomes at U.S. Oncology Practices

Introduction: Pembrolizumab plus carboplatin and (nab-) paclitaxel (pembrolizumab-chemotherapy) is currently an approved and recommended systemic therapy for patients with previously untreated advanced squamous NSCLC. This retrospective study evaluated real-world time on treatment (rwToT) and overall survival (OS) among patients with advanced squamous NSCLC treated with first-line pembrolizumab-chemotherapy at oncology practices in the United States.Methods: Using a real-world database, we selected adult patients with newly diagnosed or recurrent advanced squamous NSCLC (unresectable stages IIIB, IIIC, or IV) and good performance status (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group 0-1) who initiated first-line pembrolizumab-chemotherapy from November 1, 2018, to May 31, 2020. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to determine rwToT and OS overall and by programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. Data cutoff was October 31, 2021.Results: Of 364 eligible patients, 243 (67%) were men; median age was 70 (range: 43-84) years; and PD-L1 expression was greater than or equal to 1%, less than 1%, and unknown for 172 (47%), 94 (26%), and 98 patients (27%), respectively. Median follow-up from pembrolizumab-chemotherapy initiation to data cutoff was 26.2 months. Overall, median pembrolizumab rwToT was 6.5 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.6-7.6), with on treatment rates of 29.3% and 15.9% at 12 and 24 months, respectively. Median OS was 15.3 months (95% CI: 11.7- 18.6), with 12-and 24-month OS rates of 54.9% and 37.3%, respectively. Median OS did not differ with PD-L1 expression: 16.2 months (95% CI: 10.3-20.6) for PD-L1 greater than or equal to 1% and 17.2 months (95% CI: 10.8-20.6) for PD-L1 less than 1%.Conclusions: For patients with advanced squamous NSCLC and good performance status treated with first-line pembrolizumab-chemotherapy, rwToT and OS are similar to clinical trial findings for treatment duration and OS.(c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/ 4.0/).