In the DVDMS-PDT group, 56 patients (45.16%) experienced disease progression or death, compared to 39 patients (62.90%) in the control group. The risk of es-PFS events was significantly reduced in the DVDMS-PDT group, with median es-ePFS values of 2.83 months (95% CI: 2.23, 3.78) versus 2.17 months (95% CI: 0.99, 3.32) (HR = 0.6115, 95% CI: 0.4024, 0.9292; log-rank P = 0.0244, Figure 2A). Subgroup analysis of PFS showed that patients with an ECOG score of 1, stage IV disease, third-line treatment, regardless of distant metastasis, previous immunotherapy, and previous radiotherapy, benefited significantly from DVDMS-PDT (Supplementary Figure 1B).
In terms of overall survival (OS), 74 patients (59.68%) in the DVDMS-PDT group and 36 patients (58.06%) in the control group died, with median OS values of 6.97 months (95% CI: 5.32, 9.30) and 6.44 months (95% CI: 4.70, 9.26), respectively (HR = 0.8807, 95% CI: 0.5871, 1.3211; log-rank P = 0.5169, Figure 2B). After adjustment using the RPSFTM method, the median OS in the DVDMS-PDT group was 4.69 months (95% CI: 4.17, 7.79), indicating a significant reduction in the risk of death compared to the control group (HR = 0.6381, 95% CI: 0.4200, 0.9695; log-rank P = 0.0223, Figure 2C). When adjusted using the IPCW method, the median OS in the control group was 5.91 months (95% CI: 2.43, NE), and the risk of death was similar between the two groups (HR = 0.6636, 95% CI: 0.3791, 1.1618; log-rank P = 0.1116). Subgroup analysis of OS showed that patients with 2 or more baseline metastatic sites had a significant survival benefit with DVDMS-PDT treatment (HR = 0.152, 95% CI: 0.056, 0.412).