Clinical and pathologic features of lung cancer expressing programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1).

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) negatively regulates antigen receptor signaling upon binding by either of its ligands, programmed cell death ligand 1 or 2 (PD-L1/2). Blockade of this interaction with either PD-1 or PD-L1 antibodies has been successful in the treatment of human cancer, especially melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer. PD-L1 expression has been proposed as a predictor of tumor response. However, the relationships between PD-L1 expression and various clinicopathological characteristics remain unclear.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

PD-L1 expression was examined in 220 non-small cell lung cancer specimens that were consecutively resected at our hospital after validating the E1L3N antibody immunohistochemical assay by comparing IHC and RT-PCR data for lung cancer cell lines. We evaluated the relationships between PD-L1 positivity, several clinical factors and the immunohistochemical expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), cancer stem cell and proliferative markers.

RESULTS:

PD-L1 was expressed in 22% of lung adenocarcinomas and 60% of squamous cell lung cancers. There was no significant association between PD-L1 expression and clinicopathological features in squamous cell lung cancer. However, in patients with lung adenocarcinoma, PD-L1 expression was significantly correlated with solid subtype histology, vimentin expression, increased Ki-67 labeling index and poor prognosis by multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSION:

PD-L1 expression was associated with high proliferative activity and the EMT phenotype in adenocarcinoma but not in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. PD-L1 expression was a significant poor prognostic factor in patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

• Authors: Masaki Shimoji, Shigeki Shimizu, Katsuaki Sato, Kenichi Suda, Yoshihisa Kobayashi, Kenji Tomizawa, Toshiki Takemoto, Tetsuya Mitsudomi
• Journal: Lung cancer (Amsterdam, Netherlands) (Lung Cancer) Vol. 98 Pg. 69-75 (08 2016) ISSN: 1872-8332 [Electronic] Ireland
• PMID: 27393509 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• B7-H1 Antigen
• Biomarkers, Tumor
• RNA, Messenger

Topics

• Adenocarcinoma (diagnosis, genetics)
• Adenocarcinoma of Lung
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• B7-H1 Antigen (genetics, metabolism)
• Biomarkers, Tumor
• Carcinoma, Squamous Cell (diagnosis, genetics)
• Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (genetics)
• Female
• Gene Expression
• Humans
• Immunohistochemistry
• Kaplan-Meier Estimate
• Lung Neoplasms (diagnosis, genetics, mortality, therapy)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Neoplasm Grading
• Neoplasm Metastasis
• Neoplasm Staging
• Prognosis
• Proportional Hazards Models
• RNA, Messenger (genetics)