Analysis of first-line treatment (tx) patterns in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients (pts) with compromised performance status (PS), organ dysfunction (dfxn) or other significant comorbidities.

Abstract

e21093 Background: NSCLC is a disease of the elderly and most cases are related to tobacco. Therefore, concomitant organ dfxn, which increases the risk of toxicity with cancer directed therapy, is prevalent. Patterns of care studies have shown that the elderly, those with organ dfxn or compromised PS are frequently not treated, despite prospective studies demonstrating survival benefit with active tx. We hypothesized that the advent of new, more active therapies has resulted in practice changes in these populations. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, observational cohort study using the nationwide Flatiron Health electronic health record (EHR)-derived de-identified database to compare first line tx patterns from 2011 to 2020 in pts with advanced NSCLC meeting at least 1 of the following criteria: age > 70 years, organ dfxn (serum creatinine > 1.5 times the upper limit of normal [ULN] and/or total bilirubin > 2 times ULN), ECOG PS > 2 or documented HIV. Pts were excluded if there was a > 90-day post-diagnosis gap in EHR data. Tx patterns were categorized as having received standard, non-standard or no frontline tx. Tx groups included PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor single agent, chemoimmunotherapy, platinum-based (Plat) doublet +/- VEGF inhibitors (VEGFi), single agent chemotherapy (chemo) and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Descriptive statistics were used to analyze tx patterns, and the relationship between txs and variables of interest were tested using Chi-squared tests or t-tests. Results: Of the 58,145 pts with advanced NSCLC in the database, 33,701 met at least 1 criterion for inclusion. There was a small but significant increase in the number of pts treated with standard therapy from 2011 to 2020 (p < 0.001). There was rapid uptake of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors as well as chemoimmunotherapy upon FDA approvals in 2016 and 2018, respectively. This correlated with a rapid decrease in the use of Plat-doublet chemo +/- VEGFi as well as a decrease in the number of pts receiving single agent chemo or not treated at all (Table). Conclusions: Real world data from 2011 to 2020 demonstrates an increase in the use of standard therapies as well as the rapid incorporation of immunotherapy into first line tx in advanced NSCLC pts who are elderly, have a poor PS, or organ dfxn. However, a substantial proportion of pts (28.9%) still do not receive any documented tx, within the Flatiron Health network.[Table: see text]