start-ver=1.4 cd-journal=joma no-vol=111 cd-vols= no-issue=10 article-no= start-page=3739 end-page=3746 dt-received= dt-revised= dt-accepted= dt-pub-year=2020 dt-pub=20200729 dt-online= en-article= kn-article= en-subject= kn-subject= en-title= kn-title=Utility of immune checkpoint inhibitors in non-small-cell lung cancer patients with poor performance status en-subtitle= kn-subtitle= en-abstract= kn-abstract=Most clinical trials of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) exclude patients with poor ECOG performance status (PS). Thus, the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in patients with poor PS remains unclear. Herein, we used data from a retrospective cohort to assess the potential clinical benefits of ICIs in NSCLC patients with poor PS. Data from NSCLC patients who received ICI monotherapy at 9 institutions between December 2015 and May 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. After excluding 4 patients who lacked PS data, a total of 527 ICI-treated patients, including 79 patients with PS 2 or higher, were used for our analyses. The progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients with PS 2 or higher were significantly shorter compared with those of PS 0-1 patients (median PFS, 4.1 vs 2.0 months;P < .001 and median OS, 17.4 vs 4.0 months;P < .001). Among NSCLC patients with programmed cell death protein-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression of 50% or higher who were treated with pembrolizumab as first-line therapy, the median PFS times of patients with PS 2 and 0-1 were 7.3 and 8.1 months, respectively. There was no significant difference in PFS between patients with PS 2 and 0-1 (P = .321). Although poor PS was significantly associated with worse outcomes in NSCLC patients treated with ICIs, pembrolizumab as a first-line treatment in NSCLC patients expressing high levels of PD-L1 could provide a clinical benefit, even in patients with PS 2. en-copyright= kn-copyright= en-aut-name=KanoHirohisa en-aut-sei=Kano en-aut-mei=Hirohisa kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=1 ORCID= en-aut-name=IchiharaEiki en-aut-sei=Ichihara en-aut-mei=Eiki kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=2 ORCID= en-aut-name=HaradaDaijiro en-aut-sei=Harada en-aut-mei=Daijiro kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=3 ORCID= en-aut-name=InoueKoji en-aut-sei=Inoue en-aut-mei=Koji kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=4 ORCID= en-aut-name=KayataniHiroe en-aut-sei=Kayatani en-aut-mei=Hiroe kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=5 ORCID= en-aut-name=HosokawaShinobu en-aut-sei=Hosokawa en-aut-mei=Shinobu kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=6 ORCID= en-aut-name=KishinoDaizo en-aut-sei=Kishino en-aut-mei=Daizo kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=7 ORCID= en-aut-name=WatanabeKazuhiko en-aut-sei=Watanabe en-aut-mei=Kazuhiko kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=8 ORCID= en-aut-name=OchiNobuaki en-aut-sei=Ochi en-aut-mei=Nobuaki kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=9 ORCID= en-aut-name=OdaNaohiro en-aut-sei=Oda en-aut-mei=Naohiro kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=10 ORCID= en-aut-name=HaraNaofumi en-aut-sei=Hara en-aut-mei=Naofumi kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=11 ORCID= en-aut-name=NinomiyaKiichiro en-aut-sei=Ninomiya en-aut-mei=Kiichiro kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=12 ORCID= en-aut-name=HottaKatsuyuki en-aut-sei=Hotta en-aut-mei=Katsuyuki kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=13 ORCID= en-aut-name=MaedaYoshinobu en-aut-sei=Maeda en-aut-mei=Yoshinobu kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=14 ORCID= en-aut-name=KiuraKatsuyuki en-aut-sei=Kiura en-aut-mei=Katsuyuki kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=15 ORCID= affil-num=1 en-affil=Department of Hematology, Oncology, and Respiratory Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences kn-affil= affil-num=2 en-affil=Department of Allergy and Respiratory Medicine, Okayama University Hospital kn-affil= affil-num=3 en-affil=Department of Thoracic Oncology, National Hospital Organization Shikoku Cancer Center kn-affil= affil-num=4 en-affil=Department of Respiratory Medicine, Ehime Prefectural Central Hospital kn-affil= affil-num=5 en-affil=Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Hospital Organization Okayama Medical Center kn-affil= affil-num=6 en-affil=Department of Respiratory Medicine, Japanese Red Cross Okayama Hospital kn-affil= affil-num=7 en-affil=Department of Respiratory Medicine, Himeji Red Cross Hospital kn-affil= affil-num=8 en-affil=Department of Internal Medicine, Okayama Saiseikai General Hospital kn-affil= affil-num=9 en-affil=Department of General Internal Medicine 4, Kawasaki Medical School kn-affil= affil-num=10 en-affil=Department of Internal Medicine, Fukuyama City Hospital kn-affil= affil-num=11 en-affil=Department of Hematology, Oncology, and Respiratory Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences kn-affil= affil-num=12 en-affil=Department of Hematology, Oncology, and Respiratory Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences kn-affil= affil-num=13 en-affil=Center for Innovative Clinical Medicine, Okayama University Hospital kn-affil= affil-num=14 en-affil=Department of Hematology, Oncology, and Respiratory Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences kn-affil= affil-num=15 en-affil=Department of Allergy and Respiratory Medicine, Okayama University Hospital kn-affil= en-keyword=immune checkpoint inhibitor kn-keyword=immune checkpoint inhibitor en-keyword=non-small cell-lung cancer kn-keyword=non-small cell-lung cancer en-keyword=PD-L1 kn-keyword=PD-L1 en-keyword=pembrolizumab kn-keyword=pembrolizumab en-keyword=poor performance status kn-keyword=poor performance status END