ABSTRACT
Objective:To observe the efficacy of sintilimab combined with apatinib in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Methods:Eighty-two patients with advanced NSCLC who were admitted to Nantong Cancer Hospital from October 2019 to September 2020 were selected for a prospective controlled study. They were divided into control group (treated with apatinib) and combination group (treated with sintilimab + apatinib) using the random number table method, with 41 cases in each group. The short-term clinical efficacy, tumor markers [neuron specific enolase (NSE), cytokeratin 19 fragment antigen (CYFRA21-1)], adverse reactions during treatment and survival were compared between the two groups.Results:The objective remission rate and clinical control rate in the combination group were higher than those in the control group [41.46% (17/41) vs. 19.51% (8/41), 85.37% (35/41) vs. 58.54% (24/41)], and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2 values were 4.66 and 7.31, both P < 0.05). The levels of NSE and CYFRA21-1 in the combination group were lower than those in the control group after treatment [(19.04±2.54) ng/ml vs. (21.35±3.11) ng/ml, (4.58±1.02) μg/L vs. (6.07±1.84) μg/L], and the differences were statistically significant ( t values were 3.68 and 4.54, both P < 0.001). There were no statistical differences in the incidence rates of gastrointestinal reaction, bone marrow depression, fatigue, and liver and kidney function damage between the combination group and the control group during treatment (all P > 0.05). The survival rate of the combination group was higher than that of the control group (71.79% vs. 47.50%), and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2 = 4.84, P = 0.028). Conclusions:Sintilimab combined with apatinib may improve clinical efficacy, reduce tumor marker levels, and improve short-term survival rate of advanced NSCLC patients.