Real‐world treatment patterns and clinical outcomes in patients with stage III NSCLC in Korea: The KINDLE study

Abstract Objective KINDLE‐Korea is part of a real‐world KINDLE study that aimed to characterize the treatment patterns and clinical outcomes of patients with stage III non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Materials and Methods The KINDLE was an international real‐world study that explores patient and disease characteristics, treatment patterns, and survival outcomes. The KINDLE‐Korea included stage III NSCLC patients diagnosed between January 2013 and December 2017. Results A total of 461 patients were enrolled. The median age was 66 years (range: 24–87). Most patients were men (75.7%) with a history of smoking (74.0%), stage IIIA NSCLC (69.2%), and unresectable disease (52.9%). A total of 24.3% had activating EGFR mutation and 62.2% were positive for PDL1 expression. Broadly categorized, 44.6% of the patients received chemoradiation (CRT)‐based therapy, 35.1% underwent surgery, and 20.3% received palliative therapies as initial treatment. The most commonly adopted approaches for patients with stage IIIA and IIIB disease were surgery and CRT, respectively. The median PFS was 15.2 months and OS was 66.7 months. Age >65 years, adenocarcinoma histology, and surgery as the initial treatment were significantly associated with longer OS. Conclusion This study revealed the heterogeneity of treatment patterns and survival outcomes in patients with stage III NSCLC before durvalumab consolidation came into clinical practice. There is an unmet need for patients who are not eligible for surgery as an initial therapy. Novel therapeutic approaches are highly warranted to improve clinical outcomes.