Garon EB, Rizvi NA, Hui R, Leighl N, Balmanoukian AS, Eder JP, et al. Pembrolizumab for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2015;372:2018–28. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1501824.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Brahmer J, Reckamp KL, Baas P, Crinò L, Eberhardt WE, Poddubskaya E, et al. Nivolumab versus docetaxel in advanced squamous-cell non-small-cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2015;373:123–35. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1504627.

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Rittmeyer A, Barlesi F, Waterkamp D, Park K, Ciardiello F, von Pawel J, et al. Atezolizumab versus docetaxel in patients with previously treated non-small-cell lung cancer (OAK): a phase 3, open-label, multicentre randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2017;389:255–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)32517-X.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Herbst RS, Baas P, Kim DW, Felip E, Pérez-Gracia JL, Han JY, et al. Pembrolizumab versus docetaxel for previously treated, PD-L1-positive, advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (KEYNOTE-010): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2016;387:1540–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01281-7.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Mok TSK, Wu YL, Kudaba I, Kowalski DM, Cho BC, Turna HZ, et al. Pembrolizumab versus chemotherapy for previously untreated, PD-L1-expressing, locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (KEYNOTE-042): a randomised, open-label, controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2019;393:1819–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32409-7.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Reck M, Rodríguez-Abreu D, Robinson AG, Hui R, Csőszi T, Fülöp A, et al. Pembrolizumab versus chemotherapy for PD-L1-positive non-small-cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2016;375:1823–33. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1606774.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

West H, McCleod M, Hussein M, Morabito A, Rittmeyer A, Conter HJ, et al. Atezolizumab in combination with carboplatin plus nab-paclitaxel chemotherapy compared with chemotherapy alone as first-line treatment for metastatic non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (IMpower130): a multicentre, randomised, open-label, phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2019;20:924–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(19)30167-6.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Sugawara S, Lee JS, Kang JH, Kim HR, Inui N, Hida T, et al. Nivolumab with carboplatin, paclitaxel, and bevacizumab for first-line treatment of advanced nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer. Ann Oncol. 2021;32:1137–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2021.06.004.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Socinski MA, Jotte RM, Cappuzzo F, Orlandi F, Stroyakovskiy D, Nogami N, et al. Atezolizumab for first-line treatment of metastatic nonsquamous NSCLC. N Engl J Med. 2018;378:2288–301. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1716948.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Gandhi L, Rodríguez-Abreu D, Gadgeel S, Esteban E, Felip E, De Angelis F, et al. Pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2018;378:2078–92. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1801005.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Paz-Ares L, Luft A, Vicente D, Tafreshi A, Gümüş M, Mazières J, et al. Pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy for squamous non-small-cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2018;379:2040–51. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1810865.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Lilenbaum RC, Cashy J, Hensing TA, Young S, Cella D. Prevalence of poor performance status in lung cancer patients: implications for research. J Thorac Oncol. 2008;3:125–9. https://doi.org/10.1097/JTO.0b013e3181622c17.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Cortellini A, Tucci M, Adamo V, Stucci LS, Russo A, Tanda ET, et al. Integrated analysis of concomitant medications and oncological outcomes from PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors in clinical practice. J Immunother Cancer. 2020;8(2):e001361. https://doi.org/10.1136/jitc-2020-001361.

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Eisenhauer EA, Therasse P, Bogaerts J, Schwartz LH, Sargent D, Ford R, et al. New response evaluation criteria in solid tumours: revised RECIST guideline (version 1.1). Eur J Cancer. 2009;45:228–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejca.2008.10.026.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Cortellini A, Bersanelli M, Buti S, Cannita K, Santini D, Perrone F, et al. A multicenter study of body mass index in cancer patients treated with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors: when overweight becomes favorable. J Immunother Cancer. 2019;7:57. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40425-019-0527-y.

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Passaro A, Novello S, Giannarelli D, Bria E, Galetta D, Gelibter A, et al. Early progression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with high PD-L1 treated with pembrolizumab in first-line setting: a prognostic scoring system based on clinical features. Cancers (Basel). 2021;13(12):2935. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13122935.

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Kanda Y. Investigation of the freely available easy-to-use software ‘EZR’ for medical statistics. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2013;48:452–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2012.244.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Sweeney CJ, Zhu J, Sandler AB, Schiller J, Belani CP, Langer C, et al. Outcome of patients with a performance status of 2 in Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Study E1594: a phase II trial in patients with metastatic nonsmall cell lung carcinoma. Cancer. 2001;92:2639–47. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0142(20011115)92:10%3c2639::AID-CNCR1617%3e3.0.CO;2-8.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Friedlaender A, Metro G, Signorelli D, Gili A, Economopoulou P, Roila F, et al. Impact of performance status on non-small-cell lung cancer patients with a PD-L1 tumour proportion score ≥50% treated with front-line pembrolizumab. Acta Oncol. 2020;59:1058–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/0284186X.2020.1781249.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Meyers DE, Pasternak M, Dolter S, Grosjean HAI, Lim CA, Stukalin I, et al. Impact of performance status on survival outcomes and health care utilization in patients with advanced NSCLC treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. JTO Clin Res Rep. 2023;4: 100482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtocrr.2023.100482.

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Facchinetti F, Di Maio M, Perrone F, Tiseo M. First-line immunotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer patients with poor performance status: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Transl Lung Cancer Res. 2021;10:2917–36. https://doi.org/10.21037/tlcr-21-15.

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Udayakumar S, Parmar A, Leighl NB, Everest L, Arciero VS, Santos SD, et al. Pembrolizumab alone or with chemotherapy for metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2022;173: 103660. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.critrevonc.2022.103660.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Morimoto K, Uchino J, Yokoi T, Kijima T, Goto Y, Nakao A, et al. Early discontinuation of induction therapy in chemoimmunotherapy as an effective alternative to the standard regimen in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: a retrospective study. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2022;148:2437–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-021-03782-5.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Pons-Tostivint E, Hulo P, Guardiolle V, Bodot L, Rabeau A, Porte M, et al. Real-world multicentre cohort of first-line pembrolizumab alone or in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer PD-L1 ≥ 50. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2023;72:1881–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-022-03359-2.

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Pérol M, Felip E, Dafni U, Polito L, Pal N, Tsourti Z, et al. Effectiveness of PD-(L)1 inhibitors alone or in combination with platinum-doublet chemotherapy in first-line (1L) non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (Nsq-NSCLC) with PD-L1-high expression using real-world data. Ann Oncol. 2022;33:511–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2022.02.008.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Hosokawa S, Ichihara E, Harada D, Kuyama S, Inoue K, Gemba K, et al. Pembrolizumab in advanced NSCLC patients with poor performance status and high PD-L1 expression: OLCSG 1801. Int J Clin Oncol. 2022;27:1139–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-022-02164-2.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Middleton G, Brock K, Savage J, Mant R, Summers Y, Connibear J, et al. Pembrolizumab in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer of performance status 2 (PePS2): a single arm, phase 2 trial. Lancet Respir Med. 2020;8:895–904. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30033-3.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Fujimoto D, Miura S, Yoshimura K, Wakuda K, Oya Y, Haratani K, et al. A real-world study on the effectiveness and safety of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy for nonsquamous NSCLC. JTO Clin Res Rep. 2022;3: 100265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtocrr.2021.100265.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Morimoto K, Yamada T, Yokoi T, Kijima T, Goto Y, Nakao A, et al. Clinical impact of pembrolizumab combined with chemotherapy in elderly patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Lung Cancer. 2021;161:26–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lungcan.2021.08.015.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Nosaki K, Saka H, Hosomi Y, Baas P, de Castro G, Reck Jr M, et al. Safety and efficacy of pembrolizumab monotherapy in elderly patients with PD-L1-positive advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: pooled analysis from the KEYNOTE-010, KEYNOTE-024, and KEYNOTE-042 studies. Lung Cancer. 2019;135:188–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lungcan.2019.07.004.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Takumida H, Horinouchi H, Masuda K, Shinno Y, Okuma Y, Yoshida T, et al. Comparison of time to failure of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy versus pembrolizumab monotherapy: a consecutive analysis of patients having NSCLC with high PD-L1 expression. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2022;71:737–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-021-03029-9.