It remains unclear whether immune-related adverse events (irAEs) and glucocorticoid use could impact long-term outcomes in patients treated for solid tumors with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). All patients treated with a single-agent ICI for any advanced cancer were included in this retrospective unicentric study. The objectives were to assess the impact of grade ≥3 irAEs, glucocorticoid use and the interruption of immunotherapy on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). In this 828-patient cohort, the first occurrence of grade ≥3 irAEs had no significant impact on PFS or OS. Glucocorticoid administration for the irAEs was associated with a significantly shorter PFS (adjusted HR 3.0; p = 0.00040) and a trend toward shorter OS. ICI interruption was associated with a significantly shorter PFS (adjusted HR 3.5; p < 0.00043) and shorter OS (HR 4.5; p = 0.0027). Glucocorticoid administration and ICI interruption were correlated. In our population of patients treated with single agent ICI, grade ≥3 irAEs did not impact long-term outcomes. However, the need for glucocorticoids and the interruption of immunotherapy resulted in poorer long-term outcomes. The impact of grade ≥3 irAEs reported in other studies might then be explained by the management of the irAEs.

Background: ICIs have dramatically improved patient outcomes in different malignancies. However, the impact of liver metastases (LM) and number of metastatic sites (MS) remains unclear in patients treated with single-agent anti-PD(L)1. Methods: We aimed to assess the prognostic impact of LM and MS number on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in a large single-arm retrospective multicentric cohort (IMMUCARE) of patients treated with anti-PD(L)-1 for different solid tumors. Results: A total of 759 patients were enrolled from January 2012 to October 2018. The primary tumor types were non-small cell lung cancer (71%), melanoma (19%), or urologic cancer (10%). At the time of ICI initiation, 167 patients (22%) had LM and 370 patients (49%) had more than MS. LM was associated with a shorter median PFS of 1.9 months (95% CI: 1.8–2.5) vs. 4.0 months (95% CI: 3.6–5.4) in patients without LM (p < 0.001). The median OS of patients with LM was of 5.2 months (95% CI: 4.0–7.7) compared with 12.8 months (95% CI: 11.2–15.1) (p < 0.001). Interestingly, LM were not associated with shorter PFS, or OS compared to other MS types (brain, bone, or lung) in patients with only one MS. Patients with multiple MS also had poor clinical outcomes compared to patients with only one MS. The presence of LM and MS number were independent prognostic factors on overall survival. Conclusion: The presence of LM or multiple MS were associated with poorer survival outcomes in patients treated with anti-PD(L)-1.