Plasma sPD-L1 and VEGF levels are associated with the prognosis of NSCLC patients treated with combination immunotherapy

Abstract

The clinical significance of plasma soluble programmed cell death ligand 1 (sPD-L1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with the combination of anti-angiogenic therapy and anti-PD-L1 antibody (Ab) remain unknown. This study aimed to explore the association between plasma sPD-L1 and VEGF levels and the prognosis of NSCLC patients treated with the combination of Envafolimab and Endostar. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 24 NSCLC patients at baseline and after 6 weeks of treatment and were detected for sPD-L1 and VEGF levels. Both baseline and posttreatment sPD-L1 were significantly higher in progressive disease (PD) group than in controlled disease (CD) group (median: 77.5 pg/ml vs. 64.6 pg/ml, P = 0.036, median: 8451 pg/ml vs. 5563 pg/ml, P = 0.012). In multivariate analysis, lower baseline sPD-L1 levels were significantly associated with longer progression-free survival (PFS) (HR = 6.834, 95% CI: 1.350–34.592, P = 0.020). There were significantly higher posttreatment VEGF levels in PD group compared with CD group (median: 323.7 pg/ml vs. 178.5 pg/ml, P = 0.009). Higher posttreatment VEGF levels were significantly associated with shorter PFS in multivariate analysis (HR = 5.911, 95% CI: 1.391–25.122, P = 0.016). Plasma sPD-L1 and VEGF levels are associated with the clinical response and prognosis of NSCLC patients treated with the combination of PD-L1 inhibitors and anti-angiogenetic therapy.