Significance of Glasgow prognostic scores in NSCLC patients treated with immunotherapy after platinum-based cytotoxic chemotherapy

BACKGROUND/AIM Little is known about the prognostic role of the Glasgow prognostic score (GPS) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with immunotherapy after platinum-based cytotoxic chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS This study used a lung cancer cohort of the Catholic Medical Center of Korea between January 2018 and September 2020. RESULTS A total of 78 patients with NSCLC treated with immunotherapy as second or further-line therapy were included. Higher GPS values were significant predictors of shorter immune-related progression-free survival (irPFS) and overall survival (OS). The hazard ratios for irPFS were 0.249 for programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression ≥50% and 9.73 for a GPS of 2. Older age, lower PD-L1 expression and higher GPS values were independently associated with shorter OS. CONCLUSION Higher GPS values were identified as a poor prognostic factor for OS and irPFS in NSCLC patients who received immunotherapy as second or further-line therapy.