The outcomes of neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with antiangiogenic therapy versus chemoimmunotherapy in resectable non-small cell lung cancer: a propensity score matching analysis.

BACKGROUND

Platinum-based chemotherapy is the most common combination regimen with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in neoadjuvant therapy for resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), yet the multimodal strategies of neoadjuvant therapy have not been fully explored. Antiangiogenic therapy is known to modify the tumor immune microenvironment, making it a potential candidate. This study aimed to explore the pathological and survival outcomes of neoadjuvant immunotherapy (IO) combined with antiangiogenic therapy and compare the outcomes with neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy (IO + CT) in resectable NSCLC.

METHODS

The clinical and pathological characteristics of NSCLC patients who underwent neoadjuvant immunotherapy plus antiangiogenic therapy (IO + AA) or IO + CT before radical surgery at a high-volume single center between December 2019 and June 2024 were retrospectively collected. The IO + CT group was matched 4:1 with the IO + AA group by propensity score matching (PSM). The surgical and survival outcomes were systematically collected and analyzed.

RESULTS

During a nearly 6-year study period, the majority of patients (411 of 431, 95.4%) underwent neoadjuvant IO + CT, while 20 patients (4.6%) underwent neoadjuvant IO + AA. Following PSM, the major pathological response (MPR) was comparable between the two groups (66.7% 63.3%, P=0.81), whereas the pathological complete response (pCR) had a trend toward reduction (13.3% 38.3%, P=0.07). Meanwhile, the neoadjuvant IO + AA group did not increase the surgical complexity or the overall postoperative complications (20.0% 23.3%, P=0.78). Additionally, no significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) (P=0.16 and P=0.47, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

This finding suggests that neoadjuvant IO + AA demonstrates no superiority over neoadjuvant IO + CT in terms of pathological and survival outcomes. Although it may serve as a chemo-free alternative for selective patients, the current evidence supports IO + CT as the standard neoadjuvant strategy in resectable NSCLC.