Efficacy and safety of immunoradiotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a retrospective comparative cohort study

Treatment of radiotherapy (RT) combined with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) may remarkably improve the prognosis in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the treatment time of RT, irradiated lesion and the optimum combined scheme, have not been fully determined. Data regarding overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), treatment response, and adverse events of 357 patients with advanced NSCLC treated with ICI alone or in combination with RT prior to/during ICI treatment were retrospectively collected. Additionally, subgroup analyses for radiation dose, time interval between RT and immunotherapy, and number of irradiated lesions were performed. Median PFS of the ICI alone and ICI + RT groups was 6 and 12 months, respectively (P