The following is a summary of “Safety and Activity of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in People Living With HIV and Cancer: A Real-World Report From the Cancer Therapy Using Checkpoint Inhibitors in People Living With HIV-International (CATCH-IT) Consortium,” published in the July 2023 issue of Oncology by Zarif, et al.

For a study, researchers sought to assess the impact of a home-based pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) program on hyperventilation symptoms, anxiety, depressive symptoms, general fatigue, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and exercise capacity in adults with severe asthma who have experienced psychosocial chronic stressors.

In the retrospective study, individuals with advanced cancers who were treated with anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 therapies were included. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Objective response rates (ORRs) were measured based on RECIST 1.1 or other tumor-specific criteria when possible. To compare OS and PFS between matched individuals living with HIV (PWH) and individuals without HIV (PWOH) with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC), the restricted mean survival time (RMST) was employed.

The study included 390 individuals living with HIV (PWH), with a median age of 58 years. Among them, 85% (n = 331) were males, and 36% (n = 138) were Black. The majority (70%, n = 274) received anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1 monotherapy. The most common types of cancer were non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounting for 28% (n = 111), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for 11% (n = 44), and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) for 10% (n = 39). Within the PWH group, 70% (152/216) had CD4+ T cell counts ≥200 cells/µL, and 94% (179/190) had HIV viral load <400 copies/mL. Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) were observed in 20% (79/390) of PWH, with 7.7% (30/390) experiencing grade ≥3 irAEs. Objective response rates (ORRs) were as follows: 69% for nonmelanoma skin cancer, 31% for NSCLC, 16% for HCC, and 11% for HNSCC. In the matched cohort of metastatic NSCLC (61 PWH vs. 110 individuals without HIV), 20% (12/61) of PWH and 22% (24/110) of individuals without HIV had irAEs. After adjustment, the 42-month restricted mean survival time (RMST) difference was found to be -0.06 months (95% CI, -5.49 to 5.37; P = .98) for progression-free survival (PFS) and 2.23 months (95% CI, -4.02 to 8.48; P = .48) for overall survival (OS) in the matched mNSCLC cohort, suggesting no significant difference in PFS and OS between PWH and individuals without HIV.

A considerable proportion of adults with severe asthma, especially women, had experienced chronic stressors before starting the PR program, resulting in higher anxiety and hyperventilation symptoms. Nevertheless, the presence of chronic stressors did not hinder the benefits of the PR program for these individuals.

Source: ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JCO.22.02459