Impact of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy on Quality of Life in Patients with colorectal cancer

Kenji Saito; A. Watanabe; T. Kato

doi:10.5281/zenodo.22813229

Authors

Kenji Saito Department of Oncology, Seine Institute for Advanced Oncology Author https://orcid.org/9184-4833-1283-2050
A. Watanabe Division of Oncology, Lena Academy of Cancer Therapeutics Author https://orcid.org/5731-6780-2337-5718
T. Kato Department of Clinical Oncology, Rhine Institute for Advanced Oncology Author https://orcid.org/8573-0135-5832-3227

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22813229

Keywords:

immune checkpoint inhibitors, colorectal cancer, quality of life, microsatellite instability, patient-reported outcomes

Abstract

Graphical abstract

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors have transformed outcomes for mismatch-repair-deficient colorectal cancer, but their effect on patient quality of life is less well synthesized.

Objective: To synthesize published evidence on how checkpoint inhibitor therapy affects quality of life and patient-reported outcomes in colorectal cancer.

Methods: Narrative synthesis of trials of PD-1/PD-L1/CTLA-4 blockade in colorectal cancer reporting quality-of-life or toxicity data, with supporting instrument-validation and adverse-event literature.

Results: Checkpoint inhibition in dMMR/MSI-H metastatic disease showed lower high-grade toxicity and better maintained global health status than chemotherapy; neoadjuvant blockade in localized disease enabled surgery avoidance in most responders; microsatellite-stable disease showed no consistent benefit.

Conclusions: Checkpoint inhibitor therapy improves quality of life in dMMR/MSI-H colorectal cancer through reduced toxicity and organ preservation, contingent on consistent patient-reported outcome collection and adverse-event management.

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