Pretreatment prognostic nutritional index as a novel biomarker in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors

摘要

Objectives: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been established as a novel strategy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) therapy. However, a definitive biomarker that can predict response to ICI therapy remains unestablished. The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) is used to assess immune-nutritional conditions and is a prognostic factor in patients with various malignancies; however, its usefulness as a biomarker of response to ICI therapy and survival outcomes in NSCLC patients is unknown. Thus, we retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathological features of advanced-stage or recurrent NSCLC patients treated with ICI therapy to identify predictors of response to ICI therapy and investigate the effects of pretreatment PNI levels on survival after ICI therapy.