Real-world efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in microsatellite unstable/mismatch repair-deficient biliary tract cancer: An AGEO study

Abstract

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) significantly improve survival in patients with mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) or microsatellite instability-high (MSI) tumors. In 2022, ICIs were approved as first-line treatment with chemotherapy for advanced biliary tract cancers (BTCs). MSI/dMMR BTC represents a rare subtype, and its response to ICIs remains poorly understood. This multicenter real-world study aimed to describe clinical characteristics and outcomes of those patients. Methods: We retrospectively included all patients with MSI/dMMR BTC treated at 23 French centers. Primary endpoint was overall survival (mOS) from the initiation of ICIs. Results: Between 2012 and 2023, 48 patients with MSI/dMMR BTC were included with a median follow-up of 25.1 months. Thirty-seven (77 %) patients received ICIs: 10 (27 %) in first-line combined with chemotherapy, 4 (11 %) as first-line monotherapy and 23 (62 %) in later lines (20 as monotherapy, 3 as double immunotherapy). From the initiation of ICIs, mOS was 40.9 months (CI95 %: 16.39-NR) and median progression-free survival (mPFS) was 11.24 months (CI95 %: 6.44-NR). Overall response rate was 36 % and disease control rate was 75 %. Grade 3–4 adverse events occurred in 15 % and 50 % of patients treated with ICIs without chemotherapy or with chemotherapy, respectively. Among patients with available molecular profiling (69 %), co-alterations were identified in 16 (48 %) patients, most frequently in TP53 (12 %), CDKN2A/B (12 %), KRAS (12 %), GNAS (9 %), FGFR2/3 (6 %), SMAD4 (6 %), and IDH1 (6 %) genes. Conclusion: This first real-world cohort study of patients with MSI/dMMR BTC demonstrated that ICI-based treatment offers a prolonged response and improved survival in this subgroup of BTC.