Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy Combined with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Reboots the Immune Response Assisted by Immunotherapy in Metastatic Lung Cancer: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have represented a revolution in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). To improve these results, combined approaches are being tested. The addition of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) to ICI seems promising. A systematic review was performed in order to assess the safety and efficacy of SABR-ICI combination. Material and Methods: MEDLINE databases from 2009 to March 3, 2019 were reviewed to obtain English language studies reporting clinical outcomes of the combination of ICI-SABR in NSCLC. 18 out of the 429 initial results fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were selected for review. Results: Eighteen articles, including six prospective studies, describing 1736 patients treated with an ICI-SABR combination fulfilled the selection criteria. The reported mean rates for local control and distant/abscopal response rates were 71% and 41%, respectively. Eleven studies reported progression-free survival and overall survival, with a mean of 4.6 and 12.4 months, respectively. Toxicity rates were consistent with the ones attributable to ICI treatment alone. Conclusions: The ICI-SABR combination has a good safety profile and achieves high rates of local control and greater chances of obtaining abscopal responses than SABR alone, with a relevant impact on PFS. More studies are needed to improve patient selection for an optimal benefit from this approach.