Expression of B7-H3 Correlates with PD-L1 and Poor Prognosis in Patients with Cervical Cancer.

Abstract

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this study was to investigate B7 homolog 3 (B7-H3) expression patterns and define its associations with programmed cell-death ligand 1 (PD-L1), pathological features, and survival in patients with cervical cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

Immunohistochemical staining was used to investigate B7-H3 and PD-L1 expression in tissue microarrays from 552 patients with stage IB1 and IIA1 cervical cancer, including 406 with squamous cell carcinoma and 146 with endocervical adenocarcinoma.

RESULTS:

B7-H3 was expressed in the tumor cells (TCs) of 32.1% of the samples as well as in the stromal cells of 92.9% of the specimens. B7-H3 was co-expressed with PD-L1 in 21.0% of the samples, while only one or the other was expressed in 41.7% of the samples. B7-H3 expression in TCs was more frequent in squamous cell carcinoma, PD-L1-positive samples, and tissues from patients with lymph node metastasis; moreover, its expression was an independent predictor of shorter survival.

CONCLUSION:

B7-H3 positivity in TCs is a promising prognostic biomarker, and targeting B7-H3 alone or in combination with PD-1/PD-L1 may be a potential immunotherapeutic strategy for patients with cervical cancer.

• Authors: Qianqian Zhang, Liju Zong, Hui Zhang, Wei Xie, Fan Yang, Wenwen Sun, Baoxia Cui, Youzhong Zhang
• Journal: OncoTargets and therapy (Onco Targets Ther) Vol. 14 Pg. 4275-4283 ( 2021) ISSN: 1178-6930 [Print] New Zealand
• PMID: 34326649 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: © 2021 Zhang et al.