BACKGROUND

This study aimed to systematically analyze the effect of a serine/threonine kinase (STK11) mutation (STK11) on therapeutic efficacy and prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODS

Candidate articles were identified through a search of relevant literature published on or before April 1, 2023, in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI and Wanfang databases. The extracted and analyzed data included the hazard ratios (HRs) of PFS and OS, the objective response rate (ORR) of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), and the positive rates of PD-L1 expression. The HR of PFS and OS and the merged ratios were calculated using a meta-analysis. The correlation between STK11 and clinical characteristics was further analyzed in NSCLC datasets from public databases.

RESULTS

Fourteen retrospective studies including 4317 patients with NSCLC of whom 605 had STK11 were included. The meta-analysis revealed that the ORR of ICIs in patients with STK11 was 10.1% (95%CI 0.9-25.2), and the positive rate of PD-L1 expression was 41.1% (95%CI 25.3-57.0). STK11 was associated with poor PFS (HR = 1.49, 95%CI 1.28-1.74) and poor OS (HR = 1.44, 95%CI 1.24-1.67). In the bioinformatics analysis, PFS and OS in patients with STK11 alterations were worse than those in patients without alterations (p < 0.001, p = 0.002). Nutlin-3a, 5-fluorouracil, and vinorelbine may have better sensitivity in patients with STK11 than in those with STK11.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with STK11-mutant NSCLC had low PD-L1 expression and ORR to ICIs, and their PFS and OS were worse than patients with STK11 after comprehensive treatment. In the future, more reasonable systematic treatments should be explored for this subgroup of patients with STK11-mutant NSCLC.