Association Between Immune-Related Adverse Events and Clinical Outcomes to Programmed Cell Death Protein 1/Programmed Death-Ligand 1 Blockade in SCLC

INTRODUCTION: The development of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) has been associated with improved efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with urothelial cancer, melanoma, and NSCLC. Whether this association exists in patients with SCLC is currently unknown. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter retrospective study to evaluate the relationship between irAEs and immunotherapy efficacy in SCLC. To account for the lead-time bias resulting from the time-dependent nature of irAEs, the development of irAEs was considered as a time-varying covariate in univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: < 0.001) in multivariate models. CONCLUSIONS: The development of irAEs is associated with improved clinical outcomes for immunotherapy in patients with advanced SCLC.