Selahattin ÇELİK, Osman SÜTÇÜOĞLU, Salih KARATLI, Esra ZEYNELGİL, Kadriye BAŞKURT, Özlem Aydın İSAK, Semra Demirtaş ŞENLİK, Ata Türker ARIKÖK, Şehnaz EVRİMLER, Ömür Berna Çakmak ÖKSÜZOĞLU, Dilşa Mızrak KAYA
Acta Haematologica Oncologica Turcica - 2026;59(2):101-105
Aim: Vitamin D is known to exert immunomodulatory effects and may influence the therapeutic efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between baseline serum vitamin D levels and survival outcomes in NSCLC patients treated with nivolumab. Methods: In this retrospective study, we analyzed patients with stage IV NSCLC who received nivolumab as second-line therapy at a single tertiary center between October 2022 and September 2024. Patients were stratified based on baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels into sufficient (>=20 ng/mL) and insufficient (<20 ng/mL) groups. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. Results: A total of 39 patients were included in the final analysis. Of these, 16 (41.0%) had sufficient vitamin D levels, whereas 23 (59.0%) were classified as insufficient. Median PFS was longer in the sufficient group than in the insufficient group (10.1 vs. 4.6 months), although this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.292). Similarly, median OS favored the sufficient group (17.3 vs. 11.7 months), although this difference did not reach statistical significance (p=0.823). Conclusion: Baseline vitamin D status may be associated with survival outcomes among patients with NSCLC receiving nivolumab. Although statistical significance was not achieved, the observed trends suggest a potential prognostic role of vitamin D. Further prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings.
