ABSTRACT Literature is scant regarding clinical outcomes in Hispanic patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with immunotherapy. The main clinical trials for first- and second-line therapies using checkpoint inhibitors have included mostly Non-Hispanic White (NHW) populations of American or European descent. In this study, data on 436 NSCLC patients (256 Hispanics and 180 NHWs) treated with immunotherapy at five large institutions are presented. The primary endpoints of the study were: overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). The roles of biomarkers PD-L1, KRAS, STK11 and TP53 mutations, the incidence of adverse events (AEs), and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as potential predictive factors of response are also evaluated. Most of the patients received single-agent therapy as second-line or beyond, while a small group of patients were treated with single agent pembrolizumab as first line therapy. The analysis showed no statistically significant differences in ORR, PFS, OS, and responses according to PD-L1 status (as measured by IHC) between Hispanic and NHW patients. Disease control rate (DCR) was also not different for Hispanics or NHW regardless of histology. The absence of STK11 mutations and the presence of AEs were associated with better PFS and OS. However, there were no ethnic differences except for more hypothyroidism seen in Hispanics. We conclude that the clinical outcomes in Hispanic and NHW pts with NSCLC treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are similar.
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