Analysis of the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy in advanced thymoma patients.

BACKGROUND

Immunotherapy has exhibited efficacy in thymic carcinoma patients; however, there are insufficient data to confirm this efficacy in thymoma. The toxicity of immunotherapy also remains to be determined.

METHODS

The efficacy and safety of immunotherapy were analyzed in 11 thymoma patients who received PD-1 inhibitors according to a range of relevant indexes including the objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and immunotherapy-related adverse events.

RESULTS

The PFS and OS rates for all patients were 12.8 and 56.5 months, respectively. No difference in efficacy was detected between monotherapy and combination therapy (PFS: 12.8 vs 2.2 months, P = 0.787; OS: 73.8 vs 56.5 months, P = 0.367). The ORRs and DCRs for all patients were 27.3% and 90.9%, respectively. The incidence of adverse events was 45.5% among the 11 thymoma patients, including immune-related myocarditis (36.4%), immune-related liver damage (18.2%), and myasthenia gravis (18.2%). In the whole cohort of patients, the rate of adverse events of grade 3 or higher was 36.4%. The rates of adverse events of grade 3 or 4 in B3-type and non-B3-type thymoma patients were 0% and 62.5%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Immunotherapy elicited a response in thymoma patients; however, more attention should be paid to the immune-related adverse events.