Potential biomarkers for predicting the efficacy of a pembrolizumab-containing regimen in advanced cervical cancer: A real-world analysis.

OBJECTIVE

Prognostic biomarkers in patients with advanced cervical cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors remain unclear. An evaluation of combined positive score (CPS) and tumor proportion score (TPS), and a comparison of their usefulness with inflammatory biomarkers in real-world data could be informative.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We analyzed 28 patients who were treated with the KEYNOTE-826 regimen between November 2022 and June 2024. The complete cohort (group 1), patients with no prior chemotherapy (group 2), and treatment-naïve (group 3) were evaluated as follows: 1) CPS, TPS, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and hemoglobin, albumin, lymphocyte, and platelets (HALP score) in peripheral blood samples were obtained prior to initial treatment and KEYNOTE-826 regimen, and receiver operating curve analysis was used to compare them. The optimal cut-off values that showed the highest level of discrimination for progression-free survival were identified.

RESULTS

The areas under the curve (AUC) for progression-free survival in group 2 were measured for CPS, TPS, NLR, PLR, and HALP scores before the KEYNOTE-826 regimen. The AUC values for these scores were 0.644, 0.662, 0.852, 0.667, and 0.700, respectively. The lower NLR (≤5.52) group had a significantly longer median survival than the higher NLR (>5.52) group (p˂0.001), with median survivals of 14.0 vs. 7.6 months, respectively. In group 3, CPS and TPS were highest at 0.700 for predicting progression-free survival, compared to NLR, PLR, and HALP score. CPS and TPS appear positively correlated with progression-free survival.

CONCLUSION

CPS and TPS showed a modest correlation with progression-free survival and NLR prior to immunotherapy demonstrated the best treatment efficacy for advanced cervical cancer.