Factors Predictive of Primary Resistance to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Patients with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

SIMPLE SUMMARY: According to the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, primary resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment is defined as progression of disease within 6 months of ICI treatment with patients receiving at least 6 weeks of ICI monotherapy. We evaluated factors predictive of primary resistance to ICI monotherapy in 108 advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients. The prevalence of primary resistance was 54.6%. The majority of patients were male, smokers, received pembrolizumab and had adenocarcinoma histology. We found that female gender, an elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio of ≥3 at 6 weeks and a later line of immunotherapy treatment (≥2 lines) were key factors in predicting primary resistance to ICI monotherapy in advanced NSCLC. ABSTRACT: Introduction: Primary resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) is observed in routine clinical practice. We sought to determine factors predictive of primary resistance to ICI monotherapy, defined by the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) as progression within 6 months of ICI treatment with patients receiving at least 6 weeks of ICI monotherapy, in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Method: Patients with stage IV NSCLC treated with at least 6 weeks of single-agent ICI at two tertiary hospitals in Singapore were included. A multivariate logistic regression model was utilised to elucidate factors predictive of primary resistance to ICI. Results: Of the 108 eligible patients, 59 (54.6%) experienced primary resistance. The majority were male (65.7%), smokers (66.3%), Chinese (79.6%), had adenocarcinoma (76.9%), received Pembrolizumab (55.6%) and received immunotherapy treatment in the later line setting (≥2 lines) (61.1%). Female gender (aOR = 3.16, p = 0.041), a sixth-week neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) of ≥3) (aOR = 3.454, p = 0.037) and a later line of immunotherapy treatment (≥2 lines) (aOR = 2.676, p = 0.040) were factors predictive of primary resistance to ICI monotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC. Conclusions: Using SITC criteria, an elevated NLR (≥3) at 6 weeks, female gender and a later line of immunotherapy treatment (≥2 lines) were predictive factors of developing primary resistance to ICI monotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC.