Effect of the STK11 mutation on therapeutic efficacy and prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: a comprehensive study based on meta-analyses and bioinformatics analyses

Abstract Background This study aimed to systematically analyze the effect of a serine/threonine kinase (STK11) mutation (STK11 mut ) on therapeutic efficacy and prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Candidate articles were identified through a search of relevant literature published on or before April 1, 2023, in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI and Wanfang databases. The extracted and analyzed data included the hazard ratios (HRs) of PFS and OS, the objective response rate (ORR) of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), and the positive rates of PD-L1 expression. The HR of PFS and OS and the merged ratios were calculated using a meta-analysis. The correlation between STK11 mut and clinical characteristics was further analyzed in NSCLC datasets from public databases. Results Fourteen retrospective studies including 4317 patients with NSCLC of whom 605 had STK11 mut were included. The meta-analysis revealed that the ORR of ICIs in patients with STK11 mut was 10.1% (95%CI 0.9–25.2), and the positive rate of PD-L1 expression was 41.1% (95%CI 25.3–57.0). STK11 mut was associated with poor PFS (HR = 1.49, 95%CI 1.28–1.74) and poor OS (HR = 1.44, 95%CI 1.24–1.67). In the bioinformatics analysis, PFS and OS in patients with STK11 alterations were worse than those in patients without alterations ( p < 0.001, p = 0.002). Nutlin-3a, 5-fluorouracil, and vinorelbine may have better sensitivity in patients with STK11 mut than in those with STK11 wt . Conclusions Patients with STK11-mutant NSCLC had low PD-L1 expression and ORR to ICIs, and their PFS and OS were worse than patients with STK11 wt after comprehensive treatment. In the future, more reasonable systematic treatments should be explored for this subgroup of patients with STK11-mutant NSCLC.