Immune-related adverse events are linked with improved progression-free survival in patients receiving anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy

Background: Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are commonly encountered, when using programmed death-1/programmed death-ligand-1 (anti-PD-1/PD-L1) therapy and are often managed with corticosteroids. The effect of irAEs, particularly when steroids are required, on patient survival is not well established. Methods: In this retrospective analysis, data for 157 patients with various tumor types treated with antiPD-1/PD-L1 therapy were obtained. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to assess the effect of irAEs and corticosteroids on progression-free survival (PFS). Results: A total of 45 irAEs were recorded for 157 patients. Twenty-one patients received systemic corticosteroids. Patients who developed irAEs, as well as those who received systemic corticosteroids, had improved PFS by Kaplan-Meier estimate. Multivariate Cox regression showed that irAEs were associated with improved PFS (hazard ratio of 0.33, P <0.001) which persisted even with use of systemic corticosteroids (hazard ratio of 0.38, P=0.03). Conclusions: irAEs are associated with improved PFS in patients receiving anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. This association does not appear to be altered by the use of systemic corticosteroids. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.