Data from Impact of DNA Damage Response and Repair (DDR) Gene Mutations on Efficacy of PD-(L)1 Immune Checkpoint Inhibition in Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract

<div>AbstractPurpose:<p>DNA damage response and repair (DDR) gene alterations are associated with increased tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, higher genomic instability, and higher tumor mutational burden (TMB) in cancer. Whether DDR alterations are associated with clinical outcomes to programmed death ligand 1 [PD-(L)1] blockade in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unknown.</p>Experimental Design:<p>Tumors from patients treated with PD-(L)1 inhibitors were analyzed using targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS). Cancers were categorized on the basis of the presence or absence of deleterious mutations across a panel of 53 DDR genes. Clinical outcomes to PD-(L)1 inhibitors were evaluated according to DDR mutation status.</p>Results:<p>Of 266 patients with successful NGS who received PD-(L)1 inhibitors, 132 (49.6%) were identified as having deleterious DDR mutations (DDR-positive). DDR-positive and DDR-negative groups were similar in terms of baseline clinicopathologic characteristics. The median TMB was significantly higher in the DDR-positive group compared with the DDR-negative group (12.1 vs. 7.6 mutations/megabase; <i>P</i> < 0.001). Compared with DDR-negative patients (<i>N</i> = 134), DDR-positive patients had a significantly higher objective response rate (30.3% vs. 17.2%; <i>P</i> = 0.01), longer median progression-free survival [PFS; 5.4 vs. 2.2 months; HR, 0.58 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.45–0.76); <i>P</i> < 0.001], and longer median overall survival [OS; 18.8 vs. 9.9 months; HR, 0.57 (95% CI, 0.42–0.77); <i>P</i> < 0.001] with PD-(L)1 therapy. After adjusting for PD-L1, TMB, performance status, tobacco use, and line of therapy, DDR-positive status was associated with a significantly longer PFS [HR, 0.68 (95% CI, 0.51–0.92); <i>P</i> = 0.01] and OS [HR, 0.60 (95% CI, 0.43–0.85); <i>P</i> = 0.004] in multivariate analysis.</p>Conclusions:<p>Deleterious DDR mutations are frequent in NSCLC and are associated with improved clinical outcomes in patients with NSCLC treated with PD-(L)1 blockade.</p></div>