Inhibition of IL1β by Canakinumab May Be Effective against Diverse Molecular Subtypes of Lung Cancer: An Exploratory Analysis of the CANTOS Trial

= 0.011). For serum inflammatory biomarker analysis, circulating levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), IL6, IL18, IL1 receptor antagonist, TNFα, leptin, adiponectin, fibrinogen, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 were determined. Patients with the highest level of baseline CRP or IL6, both downstream of IL1β signaling, trended toward a shorter time to lung cancer diagnosis. Other inflammation markers outside of the IL1β pathway at baseline did not trend with time to lung cancer diagnosis. These results provide further evidence for the importance of IL1β-mediated protumor inflammation in lung cancer and suggest canakinumab's effect may be mediated in part by delaying disease progression of diverse molecular subtypes of lung cancer. SIGNIFICANCE: These findings suggest that targeting the IL1β inflammatory pathway might be critical in reducing tumor-promoting inflammation and lung cancer incidence.