Upregulation of PD-L1 and APE1 is associated with tumorigenesis and poor prognosis of gastric cancer.
BACKGROUND
Gastric cancer is a fatal malignancy with a rising incidence rate. Effective methods for early diagnosis, monitoring metastasis, and prognosis are currently unavailable for gastric cancer. In this study, we examined the association of programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) and apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) expression with the prognosis of gastric cancer.


METHODS
The expressions of PD-L1 and APE1 were detected by immunohistochemistry in 107 cases of human gastric carcinoma. The correlation of PD-L1 and APE1 expression with the clinicopathologic features of gastric carcinoma was analyzed by SPSS version 19.0.


RESULTS
The positive expression rates of PD-L1 and APE1 in gastric cancer tissues were 50.5% (54/107) and 86.9% (93/107), respectively. PD-L1 and APE1 positive expressions were significantly associated with depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, pathological type, overall survival, and higher T stage. Furthermore, the expression of PD-L1 in highly differentiated gastric cancers was higher than that in poorly differentiated cancers (P=0.008). Moreover, the expression of APE1 and PD-L1 in gastric cancers was positively correlated (r=0.336, P<0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that the depth of invasion was a significant prognostic factor (risk ratio 19.91; P=0.000), but there was no significant relationship with PD-L1, APE1, prognosis, and other characteristics.


CONCLUSIONS
The deregulation of PD-L1 and APE1 might contribute to the development and the poor prognosis of gastric cancer. Our findings suggest that high expression of PD-L1 and APE1 is a risk factor of gastric cancer and a new biomarker to predict the prognosis of gastric cancer. Furthermore, our findings suggest that targeting the PD-L1 and APE1 signaling pathways may be a new strategy for cancer immune therapy and targeted therapy for gastric cancer, especially in patients with deep invasion and lymph node metastasis.
Cancer Center, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China.
Yi
Y
Qing
Cancer Center, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China.
Qing
Q
Li
Cancer Center, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China.
Tao
T
Ren
Cancer Center, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China.
Wei
W
Xia
Cancer Center, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China.
Yu
Y
Peng
Urological Surgery, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China.
Gao-Lei
GL
Liu
Cancer Center, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China.
Hao
H
Luo
Cancer Center, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China.
Yu-Xin
YX
Yang
Cancer Center, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China.
Xiao-Yan
XY
Dai
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.
Shu-Feng
SF
Zhou
Cancer Center, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China.
Dong
D
Wang
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D060890:B7-H1 Antigen / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D063646:Carcinogenesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D043603:DNA-(Apurinic or Apyrimidinic Site) Lyase / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015854:Up-Regulation
D060890:B7-H1 Antigen; C423236:CD274 protein, human; C085108:APEX1 protein, human; D043603:DNA-(Apurinic or Apyrimidinic Site) Lyase
gastric carcinoma; immunohistochemistry; potential targets; prognostic