Side effects of immunotherapy vs chemotherapy for the treatment of lung cancer

This study wanted to compare the side effects of immunotherapy and those of chemotherapy for lung cancer. The study found that immunotherapy was associated with fewer side effects than treatment with chemotherapy.

Standard treatment for cancer included chemotherapies. These include drugs that attack and kill cancer cells. However, many chemotherapy drugs also attack normal and healthy cells. This leads to negative side effects.

Immunotherapy is a new way of treating cancer. It uses the body's own immune system to fight the cancer. It is not known if immunotherapy will result in more side effects than more traditional cancer treatments, like chemotherapy.

This study looked at 22 smaller studies and combined the results. In total, the studies looked at results from 12,727 patients. All of the patients in the studies analyzed had solid tumors such as lung cancer (both non-small cell lung cancer and small-cell lung cancer) or melanoma. Immunotherapies included nivolumab (Opdivo), pembrolizumab (Keytruda), atezolizumab (Tecentriq), avelumab (Bavencio), and tremelimumab. All of the trials compared one of these drugs with common chemotherapy drugs.

In total, 16.56% of patients treated with immunotherapy experienced serious side effects. In total, 41.09% of patients treated with chemotherapy experienced serious side effects. Immunotherapy was associated with a 74% lower risk of developing serious side effects compared to chemotherapy.

Any side effects occurred in 65.82% of immunotherapy-treated patients. This was compared to 85.19% of chemotherapy-treated patients. Patients treated with immunotherapy were 65% less likely to experience any side effects. Common side effects included diarrhea, kidney issues, stomach problems, and lung problems.

Immunotherapy resulted in a lower number of patients that stopped treatment (6.41%) compared to chemotherapy (10.75%).

The study concluded that the treatment of cancer with immunotherapy results in fewer side effects than chemotherapy treatment.

This study analyzed the results of several smaller studies. Some side effects may not have been reported. This can influence the results of this research.