Immunotherapy in Geriatric Patients With Advanced Cancer
Birol Yildiz1, Ramazan Acar21Department of Medical Oncology, Elazig Fethi Sekin City Hospital, Elazig, Turkey, 2Department of Medical Oncology, Health Sciences University, Gulhane Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey,
Objectives: Successful responses have been obtained in treating many solid and hematological cancers using PD-1 and PDL-1 inhibitors as immunotherapy treatments. Although cancer is more common in elderly patients, this group is generally not included in clinical trials. Therefore, studies involving geriatric patients cannot reflect real-life data. The aim of our study is to share the real-life data of patients aged 65 years and older who had different cancer diagnoses and received immunotherapy treatments. Methods: In our study, patients aged ?65 years who received immunotherapy treatment at our center between 16.02.2016 and 31.12.2019 were evaluated retrospectively. The primary outcome was treatment tolerance and progression-free survival (PFS). The secondary outcomes were the overall survey immunotherapy (OSim). Results: The median age to start immunotherapy was 70 years (range 66–78). Comorbid diseases were present in 20 (74%) of the patients. The most common primary malignancy type was renal cell cancer (RCC) (n=9, 33.3%). The median PFS was 7.3 (range 1–49) months. After immunotherapy, 2 patients (7.4%) had complete response (CR), 13 patients (48.1%) partial response (PR), 5 patients (18.5%) stable response and 7 patients (25.9%) progression. The most common side effect was fatigue, occurring in 44.4% (n=12) of patients. Moreover, 66.7% (n=18) experienced an immunotherapyrelated adverse event (irAE), among which rash (21%), thyroid dysfunction (13%), and pneumonitis (12%) were the most common. None of the patients died due to treatment-related side effects. Conclusion: Although the efficacy of immunotherapy treatments was affected by comorbid diseases among cancer patients, it was observed that the elderly patients have efficacy and tolerability in accordance with the literature. Keywords: Advanced Cancer, Geriatri, Immunotherapy
Cite This Article
Yildiz B, Acar R. Immunotherapy in Geriatric Patients With Advanced Cancer. EJMO. 2020; 4(3): 209-214
Corresponding Author: Birol Yildiz