Effect of Baseline Cancer Pain on the Efficacy of Immunotherapy in Lung Cancer Patients

Overview

Journal J Thorac Dis

Publisher AME Publishing Company

Specialty Pulmonary Medicine

Date 2023 Sep 11

PMID 37691656

Authors

Huan Zhou

Jingwen Wei

Wei Sun

Zhengbo Song

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Cancer pain is a common symptom in cancer patients. However, few reports have evaluated the effect of baseline cancer pain on the efficacy of immunotherapy in lung cancer patients. The aim of this retrospective study is to reveal the effect of baseline cancer pain on the prognosis of lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of lung cancer patients who received immunotherapy at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital and were included 280 patients with or without baseline cancer pain. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to minimize potential selection bias. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed using Kaplan-Meier estimation and log-rank tests. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with survival independence.

Results: The median PFS and OS of the patients with baseline cancer pain were significantly shorter than that of patients without baseline cancer pain (PFS: 3.1 6.5 months, P=0.001; OS: 16.5 31.2 months, P<0.001). PSM also included 27 patients with or without breakthrough pain. Patients with breakthrough pain had significantly shorter median PFS and OS than those without breakthrough pain (PFS: 1.9 4.2 months, P=0.001; OS: 9.9 18.7 months, P=0.012). Cox analysis results implicated breakthrough pain as an independent prognostic factor for immunotherapy.

Conclusions: Baseline cancer pain is a negative prognostic factor for lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy. Patients with baseline cancer pain may have a worse survival prognosis if they develop breakthrough pain.

Citing Articles

Unraveling impact and potential mechanisms of baseline pain on efficacy of immunotherapy in lung cancer patients: a retrospective and bioinformatic analysis.

Zhang Z, Zhao W, Lv C, Wu Z, Liu W, Chang X Front Immunol. 2024; 15:1456150.

PMID: 39654896 PMC: 11625792. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1456150.

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