Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31673481›Full record

ReviewExperimental hematology & oncology2019

The efficacy and safety of combination of PD-1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors: a meta-analysis.

Kongju Wu, Ming Yi, Shuang Qin, Qian Chu, Xinhua Zheng, Kongming Wu

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Experimental hematology & oncology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
61citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
6.4field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

61 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 98 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Immune Checkpoints in B Cells: Unlocking New Potentials in Cancer Treatment.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024
    Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article

1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Kongju Wu *1Department of Clinical Medicine, Medical School of Pingdingshan University, Pingdingshan, Henan 467000 People's Republic of China.
Ming Yi *2Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030 China.
Shuang Qin2Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030 China.
Qian Chu2Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030 China.
Xinhua Zheng1Department of Clinical Medicine, Medical School of Pingdingshan University, Pingdingshan, Henan 467000 People's Republic of China.
Kongming Wu1Department of Clinical Medicine, Medical School of Pingdingshan University, Pingdingshan, Henan 467000 People's Republic of China.ORCID 0000-0003-2499-1032
Pingdingshan University · CNTongji Hospital · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRecently, a series of clinical trials showed that combination of anti-programmed cell death-1 (α-PD-1) and anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (α-CTLA-4) could effectively eliminate tumor. However, in comparison with widely adopted mono-immune checkpoint inhibitors, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy, the advantage of combination therapy of α-PD-1 and α-CTLA-4 in response rate and prognosis is controversial especially considering probably increased treatment related adverse event. Thus, we conducted this meta-analysis to explore the efficacy and safety of combination treatment of α-PD-1 and α-CTLA-4.

methodsThis meta-analysis involved 8 clinical trials. In most trials, the primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR). Thus we calculated risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) to compare ORR of patients undergoing different treatment strategies. Moreover, the co-primary endpoints in few trials included progression-free survival and overall survival. Hazard ratio (HR) with 95% CI were employed to weigh the influence of different treatments on prognosis of patients. Subgroup analysis was conducted in patients with high and low expression of PD-L1. Lastly, the safety of combination therapy was evaluated by comparing treatment related adverse events among various treatment groups.

resultsOur results showed that ORR was significantly higher in patients receiving α-PD-1 plus α-CTLA-4 compared with α-PD-1 (RR 1.31, 95% CI 1.16-1.48) or α-CTLA-4 monotherapy (RR 2.11, 95% CI 1.84-2.43), chemotherapy and targeted therapy (RR 1.41, 95% CI 1.26-1.58). α-PD-1 plus α-CTLA-4 treated patients had a great advantage on monotherapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapy treated patients in PFS. Notably, no significant alteration in total adverse event rate was observed in α-PD-1 plus α-CTLA-4 treated patients. Results of subgroup analysis showed that combination therapy could enhance anti-tumor response in comparison with other treatments, especially for low PD-L1 expression patients undergoing nivolumab treatment (ORR: RR 1.35, 95% CI 1.11-1.65).

conclusionCombination treatment of α-PD-1 and α-CTLA-4 is a feasible strategy with enhanced efficacy and acceptable adverse event. Moreover, for some low PD-L1 expression patients, α-CTLA-4 might decrease the risk of resistance to α-PD-1 and demonstrate the synergistic anti-tumor effect.

Indexed as

Combination therapyCTLA-4Immune checkpoint inhibitorImmunotherapyMeta-analysisPD-1PD-L1Systematic review

Identifiers

PMID31673481
PMCPMC6815037
OpenAlexW2981646551

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.