title: Co-expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 predicts poor outcome in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: Tumor immune evasion is a hallmark of cancer. The programmed death-1/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) pathway has been suggested to play an important role in T cell tolerance and tumor immune escape. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the correlation between the expression of PD-1/PD-L1 and the post-treatment outcome in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue biopsies from 139 patients with histological diagnosis of NPC treated with conventional chemoradiotherapy were studied. By using immunohistochemistry staining, expressions of PD-1 on tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte and PD-L1 on tumor tissue were detected. The staining results were evaluated with H-score. The correlation between PD-1/PD-L1 expression and clinical characteristics and post-treatment outcome were analyzed. PD-1(+) immune cell were present in 52 of these 139 tumors (37.4%). PD-L1 expression was detected in 132 patients (95.0%), which located on tumor tissue. High expression of PD-L1 (median H-score >35) in tumor tissue significantly correlated with a poor prognosis of disease-free survival (P = 0.009). Co-expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 in NPC at diagnosis correlated with the poorest prognosis of disease-free survival (P = 0.038). PD-1/PD-L1 co-expression reflected the selective suppression of cytotoxic lymphocytes in the tumor microenvironment and predicted recurrence and metastasis of NPC after conventional therapies. Blocking this pathway in patients with co-expression of PD-1/PD-L1 provides a potential therapy target for NPC.
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, 510060, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jianwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wenfeng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Yunpeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Shaodong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Wenhua
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Yuxiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Hongyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Cong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Peiyu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Zhihuang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D060890:B7-H1 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D002277:Carcinoma; D059248:Chemoradiotherapy; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D011379:Prognosis; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor / Q000378:metabolism*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D060890:B7-H1 Antigen; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C423236:CD274 protein, human; C105992:PDCD1 protein, human; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor