Do Chemoimmunotherapy Clinical Trial Results Apply to Real World Patients with Extensive-Stage Small-Cell Lung Cancer?

Chemoimmunotherapy is the standard first-line therapy for patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). The PD-L1 antibodies atezolizumab and durvalumab have been shown to improve survival when combined with a platinum agent and etoposide during induction and continued as maintenance (NEJM JW Oncol Hematol Oct 12 2018 and N Engl J Med 2018; 379:2220 and NEJM JW Oncol Hematol Oct 29 2019 and Lancet 2019; 394:1929). Given that many patients with SCLC do not meet eligibility criteria for participation in clinical trials, there is considerable interest in using data from clinical practice to evaluate outcomes of patients who are underrepresented in clinical trials.

These investigators performed a prospective cohort study of con…