SynthesisPloS one2025
Safety and efficacy of radiotherapy combined with immunotherapy in limited-stage small cell lung cancer a single-arm meta-analysis and systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Risk prediction models for postoperative atrial fibrillation in patients with lung cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLimited-stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC) has a poor prognosis despite being potentially curable with standard concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The success of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in extensive-stage SCLC has prompted investigation into combining immunotherapy with radiotherapy for LS-SCLC. This systematic review and single-arm meta-analysis aims to synthesize the evidence on this combined modality, providing pooled estimates of efficacy and safety to inform clinical practice and future trials.
methodsFollowing PRISMA guidelines, we systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science through July 2025 for studies evaluating radiotherapy combined with immunotherapy in patients with LS-SCLC. The primary outcomes analyzed included pooled objective response rate (ORR), median progression-free survival (mPFS), and median overall survival (mOS).
resultsSix studies, encompassing 487 patients, met the inclusion criteria. The pooled analysis demonstrated an ORR of 57.7% (95% CI: 24.9-90.5%), a weighted mPFS of 13.6 months (95% CI: 11.3-15.9 months), and a pooled mOS of 33.7 months (95% CI: 26.7-40.7 months). Grade 3-4 treatment-related adverse events occurred in 42.2% of patients. Subgroup analyses revealed that a concurrent treatment sequence yielded a significantly higher ORR compared to sequential approaches (77.6% vs. 65.2% for immunotherapy followed by radiation vs. 25.8% for radiation followed by immunotherapy). Radiation dose was also identified as a critical determinant of efficacy. Anti-PD-L1 agents showed a numerically higher ORR than anti-PD-1 agents (96.0% vs. 65.0%).
conclusionThe combination of radiotherapy and immunotherapy is a promising therapeutic strategy for LS-SCLC, demonstrating encouraging efficacy outcomes that appear favorable compared to historical benchmarks for chemoradiotherapy alone. Optimizing treatment sequencing, particularly favoring a concurrent approach, is crucial for maximizing clinical benefit. These findings support further investigation in randomized controlled trials to confirm the value of this combined modality and to identify predictive biomarkers for patient selection.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.