Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42500986›Full record

Observational studyThe oncologist2026

Effectiveness and safety of immunotherapy in advanced NSCLC with pericardial effusions: a global retrospective multicenter study.

Talal El Zarif, Sarah Abou Alaiwi, Amin H Nassar, Eleonora Gariazzo, Valentina Santo, Edoardo Garbo, Mihaela Aldea, Francesco Paoloni, Sagal Pannu, Karl Semaan and 42 more

Abstract readMulticenter StudyObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in The oncologist, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

52 authors.

Talal El ZarifYale University School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-4507-2396
Sarah Abou AlaiwiYale University School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, United States.
Amin H NassarYale University School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, United States.
Eleonora GariazzoDepartment of Medical Oncology, Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
Valentina SantoDepartment of Medical Oncology, Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
Edoardo GarboDepartment of Medical Oncology, Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-2394-9895
Mihaela AldeaDepartment of Medical Oncology, Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
Francesco PaoloniDepartment of Medical Oncology, Universita Politecnica delle Marche, AOU delle Marche, Ancona 60121, Italy.
Sagal PannuStephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, United States.
Karl SemaanLank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States.ORCID 0009-0004-2315-8422
Omar ChehabDivision of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21287, United States.
Malak HoballahDivision of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21287, United States.
Vishal NavaniArthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Department of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 5G2, Canada.
Yizhuo GaoArthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Department of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 5G2, Canada.
Daniel MeyersArthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Department of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 5G2, Canada.
Igor StukalinArthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Department of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 5G2, Canada.
Arjun MittraDivision of Medical Oncology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, United States.
Mingjia LiDivision of Medical Oncology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, United States.
Nicholas JonesDivision of Medical Oncology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, United States.
Shirly GrynbergElla Lemelbaum Institute of Immuno-Oncology, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan 5265601, Israel.ORCID 0000-0003-0562-2100
Ronnie ShapiraElla Lemelbaum Institute of Immuno-Oncology, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan 5265601, Israel.
Alexi VasbinderDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States.
Salim S HayekDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States.
Elias Bou FarhatBrigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, United States.ORCID 0009-0001-0063-0518
Marc EidLank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-4738-5695
Eddy SaadLank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-8700-9312
Dory FreemanLank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
Kaushal ParikhDivision of Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, United States.
Aakash DesaiDepartment of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-2943-3817
Caleb SmithDivision of Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, United States.
Edward El-AmDivision of Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, United States.
Frank Aboubakar NanaDivision of Pneumology, Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels 35294, Belgium.
Simone FoderaroFaculty of Medicine and Surgery, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome 00128, Italy.
Javier BaenaDepartment of Medical Oncology, Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid 28041, Spain.
Mercedes HerreraDepartment of Medical Oncology, Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid 28041, Spain.
Alessio CortelliniFaculty of Medicine and Surgery, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome 00128, Italy.
David J PinatoDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London W12 0NN, United Kingdom.
James KorolewiczDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London W12 0NN, United Kingdom.
Chul KimLombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC 20057, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-0191-8684
Paul SacksteinLombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC 20057, United States.
Ryan A DenuDepartment of Sarcoma Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, United States.
Walid MacaronThe University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, United States.
Noha Abdel-WahabThe University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, United States.
Tomas G NeilanDepartment of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, United States.
João A C LimaDivision of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21287, United States.
Narjust FlorezDepartment of Medical Oncology, Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
Pasi JanneDepartment of Medical Oncology, Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-7821-4928
Biagio RicciutiDepartment of Medical Oncology, Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
Federica PecciDepartment of Medical Oncology, Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
Toni K ChoueiriLank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
Jennifer M KwanYale University School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, United States.
Abdul Rafeh NaqashStephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-7622-720X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is limited data on immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) use in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and known pericardial effusions.

methodsThis international multi-center observational retrospective study included patients with advanced NSCLC with or without pericardial effusions receiving ICIs. Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) were graded per CTCAE v5.0. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazards multivariable models assessed the association between survival outcomes and clinicopathologic variables, and an inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) model compared outcomes between the two groups.

resultsA total of 1248 patients with advanced NSCLC treated with ICIs across 13 institutions were included. Of these, 85 patients (6.8%) had pre-existing pericardial effusions. Compared to controls, patients with pericardial effusions were younger (median age 63 vs 67 years, P = .007), diagnosed more frequently with PD-L1 positive tumors (96% vs 76%, P < .001), and had a higher median number of baseline metastatic sites (3 vs 1, P < .001). IrAEs were similar between both groups (42% vs 38%), and no cardiac irAEs occurred in patients with pericardial effusions. PFS (median 5.6 vs 4.6 months, P = .3) and OS (median 10.2 vs 14.7 months, P = .50) were not statistically different between patients with pericardial effusions and the controls, respectively. In both multivariable and IPTW models, pericardial effusions were not associated with PFS or OS.

conclusionsAmong patients with NSCLC and pre-existing pericardial effusions, ICIs demonstrate meaningful clinical benefit similar to those without effusions, with no new cardiac or severe toxicities.

Indexed as

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell LungImmune Checkpoint InhibitorsImmunotherapyLung NeoplasmsPericardial EffusionAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesImmune Checkpoint Inhibitorsefficacyimmune checkpoint inhibitornon-small cell lung cancerpericardial effusionsafety

Identifiers

PMID42500986
PMCPMC13455972

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