Efficacy and safety of immune checkpoint inhibitor consolidation after chemoradiation in patients of Asian ethnicity with unresectable stage III non‐small cell lung cancer: Chinese multicenter report and literature review

Background The PACIFIC study has defined a new standard of care for patients with unresectable stage III non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the form of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) consolidation therapy. However, there is little specific data pertaining to the safety and efficacy of this approach in Chinese NSCLC patients. Methods This was a prospective multicenter cohort study. Between September 2018 and January 2020, patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC that had undergone chemoradiation therapy (CRT) and ICI consolidation treatment were enrolled in this study. The short‐term safety, tolerability, and efficacy of ICI combination with CRT were evaluated in these patients. Results Of the 20 Chinese patients eligible for inclusion, 17 (85.0%) underwent concurrent CRT treatment. In these patients, a median period of 40.5 days (range: 1–85 days) passed between the end of CRT and initiation of consolidation therapy. Pneumonitis occurred in 80.0% of patients, with seven (35.0%) being diagnosed with grade 1 pneumonitis and nine (45.0%) with grade 2 pneumonitis. No patients experienced grade 3 or higher pneumonitis or other ICI‐related toxicities. Lung V20 ≥ 20% was associated with higher grade 2 pneumonitis (77.8%; ≥20% vs. 18.2%;