Routine Laboratory Parameters as Biomarkers of Response to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Lung Cancer

Abstract

The introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors revolutionised the treatment of lung cancer and greatly increased median survival. However, only about one third of patients respond to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy and some patients suffer from life-threatening autoimmune-mediated adverse events. Predictive biomarkers are very limited, and the two established markers – PD-L1 expression and tumour mutational burden – are both tissue-based. The aim of this thesis was to evaluate whether a set of routine laboratory parameters could predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in lung cancer. Blood samples were obtained at baseline and three months after the initiation of treatment from NSCLC patients treated with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. Elevated pre-treatment CRP and CRP at the three-month mark were associated with shorter overall survival in Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression analysis. If confirmed by further prospective studies, CRP could be a low-cost, and non-invasive biomarker of response to ICIs.

Date of Award	2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Medical University Graz
Supervisor	Wilfried Renner (Supervisor) & Armin Gerger (Co-supervisor)