A real‐world comparison between neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy and chemotherapy alone for resectable non‐small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND: The impact of neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy on pulmonary resection and related outcomes had been poorly reported in previous studies. The present study aims to clarify the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy, and intraoperative difficulty in the following surgery, in comparison with chemotherapy alone in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: Patients with newly diagnosed clinical stages IB–IIIB(T3‐4N2) NSCLC, received neoadjuvant chemotherapy + PD‐1 inhibitors (PD‐1 + Chemo group) or chemotherapy alone (Chemo group) followed by surgery between December 2018 and December 2020 were included. The clinicopathological characteristics were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. RESULTS: There were 69 NSCLC patients in the PD‐1 + Chemo group and 121 in the Chemo group. The major pathological response (MPR) rate in the PD‐1 + Chemo group was 49.3%, higher than that of 19.0% in the Chemo group (p < 0.001). The 2‐year disease‐free survival (DFS) rate was 79.3% and 60.2%, respectively, in the two groups (p = 0.048). Multivariate analysis identified surgical radicality (hazard ratio (HR), 2.954, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.527–5.714, p = 0.001), and pathological response (MPR(CR) vs. SD(PD), HR, 0.248, 95% CI, 0.107–0.572, p = 0.001) to be independent prognostic factors for DFS. Lobectomy was performed in 73.9% and 66.1% of patients, respectively, and bronchial sleeve resection/bronchoplasty rate was also comparable (43.4% vs. 40.5%, p = 0.688). More patients in the PD‐1 + Chemo group received vascular sleeve resection/angioplasty (15.9% vs. 6.6%, p = 0.039) and pericardial resection (10.1% vs. 2.5%, p = 0.038). After propensity score matching analysis, pericardial resection rate was still slightly higher in the PD‐1 + Chemo group (9.4% vs. 1.6%, p = 0.05). Perioperative morbidities within 30 days and mortality in 90 days were comparable between groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy for NSCLC is safe and feasible, with higher MPR rates, as well as favorable DFS than chemotherapy alone. Surgical complexity might be increased in certain patients, with comparable perioperative morbidity and mortality.