Immunotherapy-Treated Patients With Lung Cancer: Beta-Blocker and Mortality Connection?
Posted: Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Beta-blockers appear to be associated with increased all-cause mortality in patients with lung cancer who are receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors, according to a recent study. However, for patients with a history of heart failure, atrial fibrillation, or acute coronary syndrome, beta-blockers were not linked to an increase in mortality. Stephen Kopecky, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, and colleagues presented their research at the virtual 2020 American College of Cardiology (ACC) World Congress of Cardiology (Abstract 1170-258).
“Beta-blockers should be used with caution in lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy in the absence of a compelling cardiovascular indication,” the authors wrote.
The authors studied the records of 3,326 patients at the Mayo Clinic who had received immune checkpoint inhibitors (atezolizumab, avelumab, ipilimumab, nivolumab, or pembrolizumab) between March 2010 and July 2019. Of those patients, 1,792 (53.9%) received a beta-blocker before immunotherapy.
The hazard ratio for death from any cause for beta-blocker users compared with nonusers was 1.39. The median time to all-cause mortality was 16.6 months for beta-blocker users and 19.2 months for nonusers. Sepsis occurred in 8.1% of patients who used beta-blockers compared with 4.5% of those who did not.
However, some patients had a history of heart failure, atrial fibrillation, or acute coronary syndrome. For this group of patients, beta-blocker use was not associated with any increase in all-cause mortality.
Disclosure: The study authors’ disclosures can be found at cslide-us.ctimeetingtech.com.
