Subgroup analyses
As displayed in Figure 1C , all 10 patients in the combined radiotherapy group were in a more stable condition than that in the non-combined radiotherapy group (DCR=100.00%) (P < 0.05) ,and patients with better performance status exhibited a trend of higher DCR than those with poorer performance status (88.23% vs.74.00% vs.18.18%) (P < 0.05). Patients in the first-line treatment group (ORR=48.0%) revealed relatively higher ORR and longer PFS than those treated with the PD-1 inhibitor-based therapy as second- or late-line therapy (ORR: 48.00% vs. 13.20%, P = 0.001, Figure 1D ; PFS: 7.67 months vs. 5.57 months, P = 0.129, Figure 2A). As shown in Figure 2B, PFS was 1.44 months (95%CI:0.00-4.34) for monotherapy versus 7.34 months (95%CI:4.50-10.18) for combination therapy (P=0.053), which was not statistically significant, but it was worth observing that 17 out of the 19 (89.47%) patients who achieved a partial response were on combination therapy. Significant difference was observed in the PFS of different combination groups (PD-1 antibody alone vs. PD-1 antibody combined with the chemotherapy vs. PD-1 antibody combined with the bevacizumab vs. PD-1 antibody combined with the chemotherapy and the bevacizumab groups: 1.44 vs.5.67 vs.1.67 vs.14.13, Figure 2C). Patients with combined radiotherapy showed longer PFS than those without combined radiotherapy (14.07 vs.4.62, P=0.027) (Figure 2D). The evaluation of lesion for the efficacy of ICI therapy and irradiation site were the same sites in all the patients treated with radiotherapy, and the treatment processes are presented in Table 2.