Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has a high mortality. A relatively new type of treatment for NSCLC is immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Response of ICI treatment varies among patients and is dependent on various factors, including the composition and function of gut microbiota. It is assumed that some drugs, such as metformin, change the composition of the gut microbiota, which could lead to a poorer response to ICIs. Treatment outcomes could also be affected by paracetamol, which is recognized as a potential inhibitor of antitumor immunity. The aim of this study is to describe the prescribing patterns of metformin and paracetamol in patients with NSCLC treated with ICI at the Golnik Clinic. We will also evaluate association of prescribing patterns of metformin and paracetamol with the outcomes of ICI treatment.
Our retrospective study included 369 patients with advanced NSCLC who received ICI treatment at the Golnik Clinic between July 2015 and December 2022. The data were obtained from the BIRPIS hospital medical database of the Golnik Clinic. Statistical analysis was performed in programs MS Excel, SPSS and RStudio.
Medicine with metformin was prescribed in 41 (11.1%) patients in the period of one year before the initiation until the last application of ICI. On average, included patients received 0.94 DDD (daily defined dose), corresponding to 1880 mg, during one year before the initiation of ICI until initiation of ICI. Analysis showed no association between OS (overall survival) and metformin use (Kaplan-Meier, p = 0.628) or the average DDD of metformin (Cox regression, p = 0.544) during one year before the initiation of ICI until initiation of ICI. The majority of patients (283; 76.7%) had paracetamol prescription during one year before the initiation of ICI to the last application of ICI. During one year before the introduction of ICI, the average DDD was 0.04 (120 mg). Analysis showed no association between OS and paracetamol use during one year before the initiation of ICI until initiation of ICI (Kaplan-Meier, p = 0.199), in the period of ± 60 days (Kaplan-Meier, p = 0.700) or ± 30 days (Kaplan-Meier, p = 0.829) according to initiation of ICI, nor with the average DDD of paracetamol during one year before the initiation of ICI until initiation of ICI (Cox regression, p = 0.855).
In the period of one year before the initiation of ICI until the last application of ICI, very few patients use metformin, while most patients use paracetamol in lower doses. In our study, we did not find an association between OS and the use of metformin or paracetamol during this period, a possible reason for this is the small number of patients in the study.
|