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Atezolizumab plus carboplatin and etoposide in small cell lung cancer patients previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy

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Summary

Although immune checkpoint inhibitors have improved the survival of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients, their efficacy in SCLC patients who relapsed after systemic chemotherapy is unclear. This retrospective study aimed to investigate the utility of treatment with atezolizumab plus carboplatin and etoposide in SCLC patients previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. We retrospectively screened consecutive eight SCLC patients who received atezolizumab plus carboplatin and etoposide after platinum-based chemotherapy. We evaluated the efficacy of this treatment and its association with programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. Three and five patients had sensitive relapse and refractory relapse for first-line platinum-based chemotherapy, respectively. The overall response rate and disease control rate was 37.5% and 75.0%, respectively. Median progression-free survival was 4.0 months. Out of three patients who achieved clinical response, two patients had refractory relapse for first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. No patient exhibited PD-L1 expression. Atezolizumab plus carboplatin and etoposide therapy was effective in SCLC patients with sensitive and refractory relapse and might be a second-line treatment option for SCLC patients previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (KAKENHI grant number 19 K16814).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Respirology, Neurology, and Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, 67 Asahi-machi, Kurume, Fukuoka, 830-0011, Japan

    Hidenobu Ishii, Koichi Azuma, Norikazu Matsuo, Takaaki Tokito & Tomoaki Hoshino

  2. Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Kurume University Hospital, 67 Asahi-machi, Kurume, Fukuoka, 830-0011, Japan

    Akihiko Kawahara

Authors
  1. Hidenobu Ishii
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  2. Koichi Azuma
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  3. Akihiko Kawahara
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  4. Norikazu Matsuo
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  5. Takaaki Tokito
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  6. Tomoaki Hoshino
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Contributions

HI, KA: Concept and design, HI, KA, NM, TT: Care of patients, acquisition of data, HI, AK: Analysis and interpretation of data, HI, KA: Writing the original draft, HI, KA, AK, NM, TT, TH: Review and editing the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hidenobu Ishii.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Ishii reports grants and personal fees from Boerhinger-Ingelheim, personal fees from Ono Pharmaceutical, personal fees from Chugai Pharmaceutical, personal fees from Astra Zeneca, outside the submitted work. Dr. Azuma reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, grants and personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, grants and personal fees from Ono Pharmaceutical, grants and personal fees from MSD Oncology, grants and personal fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb, grants and personal fees from Chugai Pharma, outside the submitted work. Dr. Kawahara has nothing to disclose. Dr. Matsuo reports personal fees from Boerhinger-Ingelheim, personal fees from Chugai Pharmaceutical, outside the submitted work. Dr. Tokito reports personal fees from Ono Pharmaceutical, personal fees from MSD Oncology, personal fees from Chugai Pharmaceutical, personal fees from Astra Zeneca, outside the submitted work. Dr. Hoshino reports grants from GSK Japan, grants from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Japan, grants from Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., outside the submitted work.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the declaration of Helsinki and ethical standards of the institutional research committee.

Consent to participate

Patient samples (anonymized) were taken as part of routine clinical care.

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Patient samples (anonymized) were taken as part of routine clinical care.

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Ishii, H., Azuma, K., Kawahara, A. et al. Atezolizumab plus carboplatin and etoposide in small cell lung cancer patients previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. Invest New Drugs 39, 269–271 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10637-020-00983-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10637-020-00983-6

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