Abstract
The efficacy and safety of nivolumab in patients with squamous NSCLC (sq-NSCLC) have been demonstrated in several trials including the phase 3, randomized, controlled CheckMate 017 study whose results led to the approval of the product for this indication. However, data on the use of nivolumab in the real world setting is still limited and collecting it is paramount. The Italian nivolumab EAP for sq-NSCLC represents an important source of information in that respect. The current analysis describes results of the use of nivolumab in the group of EAP patients aged ≥75 years. Nivolumab was provided upon physicians’ request for patients aged ≥18 years who had relapsed after a minimum of one prior systemic treatment for stage IIIB/stage IV Sq-NSCLC. Nivolumab 3 mg/kg was administered intravenously every 2 weeks for ≤24 months. Patients included in the analysis received ≥1 dose of nivolumab and were monitored for adverse events (AEs) using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events. 70 out of 372 (18.8%) patients with advanced Sq-NSCLC participating in the EAP in Italy were ≥75 years old and 68 of them were evaluable for response. With a median number of doses of 7 (range, 1–20) and a median follow-up of 4.7 months, the disease control rate was 42.9%, including 13 patients with a partial response and 17 with stable disease. 16 pts were treated beyond RECIST-defined progression and 5 of them achieved disease control. As of April 2016, the median progression-free survival and median overall survival among those elderly patients were 3.2 and 7.6 months, respectively. Among 70 pts, 41 pts (58.6%) discontinued treatment for any reason except toxicity; 8 out of 70 discontinued due to AE (11.4%). This analysis, conducted on elderly patients with sq-NSCLC in a real life setting, suggests that nivolumab is an effective and well tolerated treatment for this special population.
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