Safety and Tolerability of Low-Dose Radiation and Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy + Sintilimab for Treatment-Naive Stage IV PD-L1+ Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients

Low-dose radiation therapy (LDRT) may enhance the synergistic anti-tumor effect of combined immunotherapy and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). The safety and efficacy of this novel triple-combination therapy were evaluated for the first time as first-line treatment for patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This prospective phase 1 study enrolled 29 patients and included a dose-escalation and dose-expansion phase. Patients received SBRT (30 Gy/3f) to small lesions and LDRT (2 Gy/1f, 4 Gy/2f, or 10 Gy/5f) to a large lesion concurrently, followed by sintilimab (a PD-1 inhibitor). The primary endpoint was safety and tolerability; secondary endpoints included objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). No dose-limiting toxicities were observed during the dose-escalation phase; 4 Gy/2f was the recommended LDRT dose. Median follow-up was 15.6 months. Treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) occurred in 96.6% (28/29) of patients (grade ≥ 3, 20.7% [6/29]); two patients (6.9%) discontinued due to TRAEs. Seven patients experienced pneumonitis (grade 2, n = 6; grade 3, n = 1). Immune-related adverse events were noted in 58.6% (17/29) of patients. In patients with tumor assessment (n = 28), ORR and confirmed ORR were 60.7% and 57.1%, respectively. Median PFS was 8.6 months (95% confidence interval 3.7-16.5), and median OS was not reached. Exploratory analyses suggested both expanded and newly emerging TCR clonotypes were associated with better PFS. The findings indicate that the novel SBRT + LDRT + sintilimab therapy is safe and promising in patients with PD-L1-positive, driver gene-negative primary metastatic NSCLC.