Long-term safety analysis of pooled data for tislelizumab as monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy in patients with advanced cancers.

backgroundTislelizumab, an anti-programmed cell death protein 1 monoclonal antibody, has demonstrated efficacy and safety in solid tumors. This analysis evaluates its long-term safety. PATIENTS AND

methodsA retrospective analysis was performed on data from 8 randomized phase III clinical trials involving patients with advanced gastrointestinal (GI) or lung cancers who received tislelizumab. Endpoints included immune-mediated adverse events (imAEs) by tumor type, race, and treatment duration, including early (within 1 year) and delayed (>1 year) imAEs.

resultsIn all, 2636 patients (1415 with GI cancer, 1221 with lung cancer) were included in the analysis, with a median follow-up of 15.4 months. Most imAEs were low-grade. In GI cancers, 32.5% of patients experienced any-grade imAEs (7.3% grade ≥ 3). In lung cancers, 39.6% reported any-grade imAEs (8.2% grade ≥ 3). The most frequently reported imAEs were skin toxicity, hypothyroidism, pneumonitis, and hyperthyroidism. The incidence of imAEs was slightly higher in Asian patients compared with non-Asian patients (34.3% vs 26.9% in GI cancer and 35.5% vs 29.7% in lung cancer, respectively), but the incidence of grade ≥ 3 imAEs remained similar (7.5% vs 6.9% in GI cancer and 6.1% vs 7.2% in lung cancer, respectively). Most imAEs occurred within 6 months of treatment initiation. Delayed imAEs were infrequent and predominantly occurred while patients were still receiving tislelizumab therapy.

conclusionsTislelizumab's safety profile, as monotherapy or combined with chemotherapy, remains consistent with previous reports across tumor types. Delayed imAEs were relatively infrequent, with no new signals identified in this long-term safety analysis.