<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<sec id="j_raon-2017-0037_s_101">
<h3>Background</h3>
<p>With introduction of immunotherapy (IT) into the treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a need for predictive biomarker became apparent. Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) protein expression is most widely explored predictive marker for response to IT. We assessed PD-L1 expression in tumor cells (TC) and immune cells (IC) of squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (AC) patients.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="j_raon-2017-0037_s_102">
<h3>Patients and methods</h3>
<p>We obtained 54 surgically resected tumor specimens and assessed PD-L1 expression by immunohistochemistry after staining them with antibody SP142 (Ventana, USA). Clinicopathological characteristics were acquired from the hospital registry database. Results were analyzed according to cut-off values of ≥ 5% and ≥ 10% of PD-L1 expression on either TC or IC.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="j_raon-2017-0037_s_103">
<h3>Results</h3>
<p>29 (54%) samples were AC and 25 (46%) were SCC. PD-L1 expression was significantly higher in TC of SCC compared to AC at both cut-off values (52% vs. 17%, p = 0.016 and 52% vs. 14%, p = 0.007, respectively) no difference in PD-L1 expression in IC of SCC and AC was found. In AC alone, PD-L1 expression was significantly higher in IC compared to TC at both cut-off values (72% vs. 17%, p &lt; 0.001 and 41% vs. 14%, p = 0.008, respectively), while no significant difference between IC and TC PD-L1 expression was revealed in SCC.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="j_raon-2017-0037_s_104">
<h3>Conclusions</h3>
<p>Our results suggest a significantly higher PD-L1 expression in TC of SCC compared to AC, regardless of the cut-off value. PD-L1 expression in IC is high in both histological subtypes of NSCLC, and adds significantly to the overall positivity of AC but not SCC.</p>
</sec>
</abstract>

Background
With introduction of immunotherapy (IT) into the treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a need for predictive biomarker became apparent. Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) protein expression is most widely explored predictive marker for response to IT. We assessed PD-L1 expression in tumor cells (TC) and immune cells (IC) of squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (AC) patients.


Patients and methods
We obtained 54 surgically resected tumor specimens and assessed PD-L1 expression by immunohistochemistry after staining them with antibody SP142 (Ventana, USA). Clinicopathological characteristics were acquired from the hospital registry database. Results were analyzed according to cut-off values of ≥ 5% and ≥ 10% of PD-L1 expression on either TC or IC.


Results
29 (54%) samples were AC and 25 (46%) were SCC. PD-L1 expression was significantly higher in TC of SCC compared to AC at both cut-off values (52% vs. 17%, p = 0.016 and 52% vs. 14%, p = 0.007, respectively) no difference in PD-L1 expression in IC of SCC and AC was found. In AC alone, PD-L1 expression was significantly higher in IC compared to TC at both cut-off values (72% vs. 17%, p < 0.001 and 41% vs. 14%, p = 0.008, respectively), while no significant difference between IC and TC PD-L1 expression was revealed in SCC.


Conclusions
Our results suggest a significantly higher PD-L1 expression in TC of SCC compared to AC, regardless of the cut-off value. PD-L1 expression in IC is high in both histological subtypes of NSCLC, and adds significantly to the overall positivity of AC but not SCC.

PD-L1 expression in squamous-cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the lung

Radiology and Oncology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"PD-L1 expression in squamous-cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the lung"}

Background
With introduction of immunotherapy (IT) into the treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a need for predictive biomarker became...

PD-L1 expression in squamous-cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the lung

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Sep 14, 2017

Page range: 357 - 362

Received: Apr 27, 2017

Accepted: Aug 09, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/raon-2017-0037

© 2017 Urska Janzic, Izidor Kern, Andrej Janzic, Luka Cavka, Tanja Cufer

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.