CYFRA 21-1 predicts efficacy of combined chemoimmunotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a prospective observational study.

Background

Tumor markers such as serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cytokeratin fragment 19 (CYFRA 21-1) are utilized for assessing the effectiveness of chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Yet, it remains uncertain whether these markers can reliably forecast responses to combined chemoimmunotherapy. Our study aimed to examine the significance and effectiveness of these markers in predicting responses among NSCLC patients undergoing combined chemoimmunotherapy.

Methods

This two-part observational study involved patients with NSCLC who were treated with combined chemoimmunotherapy in Japanese hospitals. An initial retrospective study of these patients, with serum CEA and CYFRA 21-1 as prognostic factors for combined chemoimmunotherapy outcomes, served as a discovery cohort. Patients in a subsequent prospective study served as a validation cohort, where we assessed the prognostic accuracy of CEA and CYFRA 21-1 cut-off points determined by the discovery cohort.

Results

In total, 121 patients treated with combined chemoimmunotherapy were included, with 44 and 77 patients in the discovery and validation cohorts, respectively. Serum CYFRA 21-1 levels >3.0 ng/mL were significantly associated with progression-free survival (PFS) in both the discovery and validation cohorts (P=0.01, P=0.04, respectively). PFS did not differ significantly by CEA levels (P=0.21).

Conclusions

After combined chemoimmunotherapy treatment, serum CYFRA 21-1 stands out as a potentially valuable biomarker for predicting the prognosis of NSCLC.

Informations de copyright

2024 Translational Lung Cancer Research. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://tlcr.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/tlcr-24-190/coif). Tadaaki Yamada serves as an unpaid editorial board member of Translational Lung Cancer Research from October 2023 to September 2025. Tadaaki Yamada reports receiving research grants from Pfizer Inc., Ono Pharmaceutical, Janssen Pharmaceutical, AstraZeneca PLC, and Takeda Pharmaceutical and personal fees from Eli Lilly. K.T. reports receiving research grants from Chugai-Roche Co., and Ono Pharmaceutical Co., and personal fees from AstraZeneca Co., Chugai-Roche Co., MSD-Merck Co., Eli Lilly Co., Boehringer-Ingelheim Co., and Daiichi-Sankyo Co. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.