Abstract:Objective To analyze the predictive value of Lung Immune Prognostic Index (LIPI) score for the efficacy of programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors in treating non-small cell lung cancer.Methods Prospectively, 180 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) admitted to the Department of Oncology of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University were selected, and were divided into good, moderate and poor groups according to the LIPI score, with 56, 82 and 46 cases in each group, respectively. All patients received PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors as monotherapy or in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy. The oncological efficacy, immunohistochemical indicators [phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (PKB), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) ], serum indicators [natural killer group 2, member D (NKG2D), interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) ], Function Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung (FACT-L) scores, and prognosis [progression free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), 6-month survival rate, and 1-year survival rate] were compared among the groups. The relationship between the LIPI score and the 1-year survival rate of NSCLC patients was determined via Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.Results The ORR of the good and moderate groups was higher than that of the poor group (P < 0.05). The differences of the levels of PI3K, PKB, and mTOR before and after the treatment were higher in the poor group than those in the other two groups, while those in the good group were lower than those in the moderate group (P < 0.05). Compared with the good and moderate groups, the difference of the level of NKG2D before and after the treatment was lower, but the differences of IFN-γ and IL-6 before and after the treatment were higher in the poor group (P < 0.05). Compared with the good group, the difference of the level of NKG2D before and after the treatment was lower, but the differences of IFN-γ and IL-6 before and after the treatment were higher in the moderate group (P < 0.05). The differences of FACT-L scores of all dimensions before and after the treatment in the poor group were lower than those in the good and moderate groups, while those in the moderate group were even lower than those in the good group (P < 0.05). The PFS and OS in the poor group were lower than those in the other groups, while those in the moderate group were lower than those in the good group (P < 0.05).Conclusions The LIPI scoring system can be used to evaluate the efficacy of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and the prognosis of patients, where those with high LIPI scores benefit more from the treatment and have a better prognosis.