Table 3.
Characteristics of kidney transplant patients that developed an acute rejection with those that did not develop rejection after immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy
| Variable | Rejection (N = 18) | No rejection (N = 25)a | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 61.6 (12.6) | 66 (6.28) | 0.13 |
| Sex, male | 15 (83.3) | 20 (76) | 0.6 |
| Drug class | |||
| CTLA-4 | 2 (11.1) | 7 (26.9) | 0.27b |
| PD-1 | 11 (61) | 15 (57) | 0.8 |
| PDL-1 | — | 1 (3.8) | — |
| Combination CTLA-4 and PD-1 | 4 (22.2) | 3 (11.5) | 0.41b |
| Sequential PD-1 | 1 (5.5) | — | — |
| Drug name | |||
| Ipilimumab | 2 (11.1) | 7 (26.9) | 0.2b |
| Pembrolizumab | 3 (16.6) | 8 (30.7) | 0.2b |
| Nivolumab | 8 (44.4) | 7 (26.9) | 0.22 |
| Avelumab | — | 1 (3.8) | — |
| Ipilimumab followed by pembrolizumab | 2 (11.1) | 1 (3.8) | c |
| Ipilimumab followed by nivolumab | 2 (11.1) | 2 (7.6) | c |
| Pembrolizumab followed by nivolumab | 1 (5.5) | — | — |
| Cancer type | |||
| Melanoma | 12 (66.6) | 18 (69) | 0.85 |
| Metastatic Squamous cell carcinoma of skin | 3 (16.6) | 2 (7.6) | c |
| Lung cancer | 3 (27) | 2 (7.6) | c |
| Duodenal cancer | — | 1 (3.8) | — |
| Urothelial cancer | — | 1 (3.8) | — |
| Merkel cell carcinoma | — | 2 (7.6) | — |
| Follow-up time after immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, mo | 11.3 (10.3) | 9.6 (8.1) | — |
| Graft failure | 15 (83.3) | 2 (7.6) | <0.0001 |
| Cancer outcome | |||
| Favorable response | 0.52 | ||
| Complete response | 1 (5.5) | 4 (15.3) | — |
| Partial response | 3 (16.6) | 5 (19.2) | — |
| Stable disease | 5 (27.7) | 3 (11.5) | — |
| Progressive disease | 7 (38.8) | 14 (53.8) | 0.32 |
| Not available | 2 | — | — |
| Patient mortality | |||
| Dead | 8 (44.4) | 10 (38.4) | 0.88 |
| Not available | 2 | 5 | — |
CTLA-4, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated-antigen 4; PD-1, programmed cell death 1; PDL-1, programmed cell death ligand 1.
P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant and is in bold.
a
One patient excluded as he had a nephrectomy before immune checkpoint blockade.
b
Nonparametric test was used for statistical analysis.
c
Too few patients for any clinically meaningful statistical analysis.