Impact of delayed addition of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors to chemotherapy on outcomes in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy is the first-line treatment for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). However, the effect of delayed initiation of immunotherapy on its efficacy remains unclear.

Objectives

This study aimed to investigate the impact of the delayed addition of programmed death receptor 1/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) inhibitors on treatment outcomes in patients with ES-SCLC.

Design

This retrospective cohort study used propensity score matching (PSM) to balance baseline characteristics.

Methods

This study included 416 patients with ES-SCLC who received first-line immunotherapy between January 2020 and December 2022. Patients were categorized into two groups: delayed-immunotherapy (IO) (PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors

SUBMITTER: Lu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12280550 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature