Racial differences in characteristics and prognoses between Asian and white patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer receiving atezolizumab: An ancillary analysis of the POPLAR and OAK studies

This study aimed to compare the differences in characteristics and prognoses between Asian and white patients receiving immunotherapy for nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We studied 390 patients who received atezolizumab as part of the POPLAR or OAK trial, and analyzed the differences in baseline characteristics, outcomes and genetic mutations in blood samples between Asian and white patients. Overall survival (OS) was longer in Asian compared to white patients (median OS: 18.7 vs. 11.1 months; p = 0.005). Race was identified as an independent prognostic factor for OS (Asian vs. white: hazard ratio 0.647, 95% confidence interval 0.447–0.936, p = 0.021), together with performance status, histology, baseline sum of the longest tumor diameters (BLSLD) and number of metastatic sites. The two groups also differed in terms of characteristics including smoking history, BLSLD, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation frequency, programmed death-ligand 1 expression and blood-based tumor-mutation burden. Blood mutations of STK11, EGFR, KEAP1, POLE, GRM3, ATM and STAG2 were associated with treatment response, and TP53, KEAP1, APC, RB1, CREBBP, EPHA5 and STAG2 mutations were associated with OS. The blood-based mutation profiles differentiated between Asian and white patients, especially in relation to EGFR (23.8 vs. 8.5%), TP53 (30.2 vs. 46.9%) and STK11 (1.6 vs. 12.3%) mutations (all p < 0.05). The different clinicopathological features and mutation profiles in Asian and white patients may explain the superior outcome following atezolizumab treatment in Asian patients with NSCLC. The results of this study have important implications for further studies on racial disparities in relation to immunotherapy.     

癌性肠梗阻内科治疗的“6字方针”

癌性肠梗阻（MBO）是指原发性或转移性恶性肿瘤本身及其抗肿瘤治疗引起的肠梗阻，是晚期肿瘤患者的常见并发症，总体发生率3%~15%。目前，MBO的治疗仍缺乏统一、有效的治疗规范，大多数医院都采用对症处理的。本文在总结数百例治疗经验基础上，提炼出“减（压）、加（营养）、抑（制消化液分泌）、激（素）、利（尿）、动（运动及促进肠蠕动）”六字方针，简单、实用、有效，通过临床观察，该方案能改善患者症状，恢复经口进食率，提高生活质量和手术治疗的机会，缩短住院时间及降低治疗费用，尽管尚缺乏前瞻性的随机对照研究结果，仍值得推广。