Durvalumab Prolongs Overall Survival, Whereas Radiation Dose Escalation > 66 Gy Might Improve Long-Term Local Control in Unresectable NSCLC Stage III: Updated Analysis of the Austrian Radio-Oncological Lung Cancer Study Association Registry (ALLSTAR)

Cancers (Basel). 2025 Apr 25;17(9):1443. doi: 10.3390/cancers17091443.

Abstract

Introduction: Long-term analysis of PACIFIC revealed the clinical benefit of chemoradiotherapy combined with Durvalumab for unresectable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) stage III. ALLSTAR is a prospective registry aimed at validating the PACIFIC regimen in daily practice in Austria.

Patients and methods: Patients were eligible if they had pathologically confirmed unresectable NSCLC III with a curative treatment option. The endpoints for this analysis were overall survival (OS), updated local control (LC), and progression-free survival (PFS).

Results: The 2- and 3-year LC rates in patients who received total radiation doses > 66 Gy were 80% and 75%, respectively, which were superior to the standard treatment (65% and 54%; p-value 0.085). This benefit was even more pronounced in Durvalumab patients with 2- and 3-year LC rates of 82% and 79% with >66 Gy (p-value 0.068). The 2- and 3-year OS with Durvalumab was 71% and 63%, respectively, compared to 58% and 44% without Durvalumab (HR 0.552; 95%-CI 0.347-0.881; p-value 0.011). Patients who were treated with Durvalumab also had a significantly longer 2- and 3-year PFS (56% and 48%) than those without (35% and 20%; HR 0.469; 95%-CI 0.312-0.707; p-value < 0.001). Pulmonary side effects were observed in 66/188 (35%) patients, with one case of grades 4 and 5 each. Oesophageal toxicity grade 1-3 occurred in 93/188 (49%) cases.

Conclusion: The updated ALLSTAR analysis demonstrated sustained benefit of Durvalumab for OS and PFS, as well as a possible long-term benefit of radiation dose escalation > 66 Gy on LC.

Keywords: durvalumab; local control; non-operable NSCLC; overall survival; total radiation dose.