Unfavorable impact of decreased muscle quality on the efficacy of immunotherapy for advanced non‐small cell lung cancer

Background Quantitative skeletal muscle mass loss has the potential to predict the therapeutic effects of immune checkpoint inhibitors. This study aimed to assess the impact of muscular quality on the abovementioned outcomes. Methods This study retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with advanced non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had received PD‐1/PD‐L1 inhibitor monotherapy between March 2016 and February 2018. High muscle quality was stipulated as a skeletal muscle density ≥41 and ≥33 Hounsfield units in patients with a body mass index (BMI)
High muscle quality correlates with higher objective response rate and longer progression‐free survival duration in treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors. On the other hand, there is no association between muscle quantity and the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors.