Association between immune-related adverse events and microbiome composition in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer treated with immunotherapy.

9036 Background: Despite immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) achieving high response rates in patients (pts) with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), immune-related adverse events (irAE) remain an important therapeutic hurdle. The gut microbiome represents a novel prognostic marker of ICI response and early clinical evidence suggests that the microbiome may also regulate the development of irAE. We aimed to assess the association between irAE and the gut microbiome composition in advanced NSCLC pts amenable to ICI. Methods: In this study, we enrolled 464 pts from two independent cohorts (Montreal and Tokyo) with advanced NSCLC treated with ICI monotherapy or combination with chemotherapy. Fecal samples were collected prior to ICI initiation. Metagenomics microbiome profiling and 16S rRNA microbiome sequencing were performed for 81 pts and 133 pts respectively. The irAE were classified as CTCEA grade 0-1 (G0-1 irAE) and grade > 2 (G2-5 irAE). Microbiome composition of both groups was represented using alpha diversity, beta diversity indexes and LEfSe relative abundances. Results: Median follow-up was 28.3 months (mos) and the incidence of G2-5 irAE was 25.1% in the Montreal cohort. For the Tokyo cohort, the median follow-up was 19.6 mos and 30.8% pts developed G2-5 irAE. First, in both cohorts, overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were significantly improved for pts with G2-5 irAE compared to G0-1 irAE (OS: HR: 1.71, p = 0.008 and PFS: HR: 1.65, p < 0.001) and (OS: HR: 2.34, p = 0.001, and PFS: HR = 2.34, p = 0.006) respectively. Second, metagenomics analysis of 81 pts demonstrated a numerical decrease of the alpha diversity in terms of observed species in the G2-5 irAE. Dorea sp CAG 31, Anaerosporobacter mobilis, Butyricicococcus, and Enterococcus faecium were overrepresented in pts with G2-5 irAE. Conversely, Gordonibacter was increased in G0-1 irAE. Next, 16S rRNA profiling from the Tokyo cohort revealed an enrichment of Dorea, Butyricicococcus, and Eubacterium ventriosum in G2-5 irAE . Finally, we observed an enrichment in Dorea and Butyricicococcus in the pts with PFS > 6 months, as observed in the G2-5 irAE group. Conclusions: IrAE correlated with clinical outcome and microbiome composition in two independent cohorts of pts with advanced NSCLC. These results prompt further research on the potential mechanism underling the role of the microbiome in the development of irAE.