Nivolumab treatment of elderly Japanese patients with non-small cell lung cancer: subanalysis of a real-world retrospective observational study (CA209-9CR)

Objectives We conducted a subanalysis of data from the multicentre, retrospective observational Nivolumab Japan Real World (CA209-9CR) study to evaluate nivolumab effectiveness and safety in elderly patients (aged >= 75 years) with advanced/metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. Materials and methods Medical record data of patients initiating nivolumab treatment between April 2016 and December 2016 were collected using electronic data capture from 23 cancer hospitals in Japan between March 2017 and August 2018. Nivolumab treatment data were collected to investigate the treatment patterns by age group (<75 and >= 75 years), and the effectiveness and safety of nivolumab treatment. Results Of the 901 patients evaluated, 178 (19.8%) were aged >= 75 years. Overall, patients received a median of five nivolumab treatments regardless of age group. Comparable progression-free survival was observed, with a median of 2.1 months in patients aged <75 years and 2.1 months in patients aged >= 75 years (p=0.5441). No significant differences were found in duration of response, overall response rate or disease control rate between the two age groups. Median overall survival in patients aged <75 and >= 75 years was 14.7 months and 12.3 months, respectively. Grade >= 3 adverse events (AEs) occurred in 29.2% and 28.1% of patients aged <75 and >= 75 years, respectively. Immune-related AEs decreased slightly with increasing age; time to onset and rates of improvement were similar for patients aged <75 and >= 75 years. The most common grade 3-4 AEs were interstitial lung disease in both age groups (4.0% in patients aged <75 years and 2.8% in those aged >= 75 years). Poor performance status was associated with worse outcomes in both age groups. Conclusion Based on Japanese real-world data, the effectiveness and safety of nivolumab were confirmed regardless of age.