Impact of corticosteroids use on efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer patients: A meta-analysis.

Abstract

e15234 Background: Corticosteroids are commonly used for management of cancer-related symptoms or immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). However, given the inhibitory effects of corticosteroids on a broad range of immune responses, it is presumed that the use of these agents may affect the clinical outcomes of ICIs. This meta-analysis aims to explore the impact of corticosteroids use on the efficacy of ICIs in cancer patients. Methods: We conducted a search covering electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CENTRAL), conference abstracts (ASCO and ESMO) and reference lists to identify relevant studies. Studies that reported clinical outcomes of patients with corticosteroids administration before and/or after the initiation of ICIs treatment were eligible for evaluation. The primary outcomes included progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The random-effects model was utilized to synthesize the effect sizes of individual studies. Results: The initial literature search identified 1,900 records. After study selection, a total of 15 studies with 14,123 patients were included in the quantitative analysis. Corticosteroids use significantly reduced PFS (HR = 1.84; 95% CI: 1.30–2.61; P = 0.001) and OS (HR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.18–1.68; P < 0.001) in cancer patients treated with ICIs. In subgroup analysis, corticosteroids use for cancer-related symptoms was associated with a shorter PFS (HR = 1.98; 95% CI: 1.40–2.78; P < 0.001) and OS (HR = 1.88; 95% CI: 1.25–2.83; P = 0.003), but their use for irAEs did not show a detrimental impact on OS (HR = 1.05; 95% CI: 0.77–1.44; P = 0.740). Conclusions: This meta-analysis indicated that corticosteroids use might hinder the efficacy of ICIs in cancer patients. The indications of corticosteroids use should be strictly controlled during the course of immunotherapy.