PD-L1 expression and its clinicopathological correlation in advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in a Chinese population

• Main Authors: Lulu Rong (Author), Yong Liu (Author), Zhouguang Hui (Author), Zitong Zhao (Author), Yueming Zhang (Author), Bingzhi Wang (Author), Yanling Yuan (Author), Wenbin Li (Author), Lei Guo (Author), Jianming Ying (Author), Yongmei Song (Author), Luhua Wang (Author), Zhongren Zhou (Author), Liyan Xue (Author), Ning Lu (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: BMC, 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

Abstract Background Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is a ligand for the inhibitory programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), which are targeted by several anti-PD-1 and PD-L1 drugs for a variety of human cancers. However, only a few studies have evaluated PD-L1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) with a large Chinese cohort. Our present study is to evaluate the association of PD-L1 expression with clinicopathological features on ESCC. Methods Using tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry, PD-L1 expression on tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating immune cells was studied in 378 advanced ESCC patients without neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Its correlation with clinicopathological parameters was analyzed. Results PD-L1 was expressed on 29.9% (113/378) ESCC tumor cells and 40.2% (152/378) tumor-infiltrating immune cells. PD-L1 expression in tumor cells was significantly correlated with age, degree of differentiation, T stage, N stage and metachronous hematogenous metastasis, and PD-L1 expression in tumor-infiltrating immune cells was significantly associated with N stage (P < 0.05). Patients with PD-L1 expression in tumor cells had poor disease-free survival (Hazard ratio [HR] = 1.436, P = 0.009). There was a positive association between tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating immune cells for PD-L1 expression (r = 0.16, P = 0.002). However, PD-L1 expression in tumor-infiltrating immune cells was not significantly correlated with disease-free survival and overall survival. Conclusions PD-L1 expression in tumor cells and tumor infiltrating immune cells is not only an indicator for immunotherapy, but also significantly related with age, differentiation, stage, metastasis and disease free survival.

Item Description

10.1186/s13000-019-0778-4
1746-1596