Efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors and age in cancer patients

Aim: To evaluate the impact of age on the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in cancer patients. Materials & methods: The primary outcomes included overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Subgroup, meta-regression analysis and within-trial interaction HR were conducted. Results: A total of 34 studies containing 20,511 cancer patients were included. ICI could improve the OS and PFS in patient aged <65 and >= 65 years. Patients aged <75 years treated with ICI also had favorable OS and PFS compared with the control groups. Conclusion: ICI has comparable efficacy in cancer patients aged <65 and >= 65 years. Cancer patients aged >= 75 years need more attention in the future clinical trials.