Prognostic significance of programmed death-1 and programmed death-ligand 1 expression in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the expression of programmed death-1 (PD-1) and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and their clinical and prognostic significance in primary esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).


RESULTS
The expression rate of PD-1 and PD-L1 in ESCC was 33.5% (117/349) and 41.4% (222/536), respectively. PD-L1 expression differed significantly by tumor location, grade, lymph node metastases, and disease stage (P < 0.05). Moreover, its expression was associated with the disease free survival (DFS). Patients with positive PD-L1 expression had reduced risk for disease relapse compared to those without PD-L1 expression (Hazard ratio [HR] = 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.56-1.00, P = 0.048). Kaplan-Meier curves showed the similar result, P = 0.047. However, there was no significant correlation between PD-1 expression and clinicopathological factors or outcome in ESCC (P > 0.05).


METHODS
The expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 was assessed by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays from 536 primary ESCC who underwent surgery during January 2008 and April 2012 in Zhejiang Cancer Hospital. Chi-square test and Cox proportional hazards regression were employed to analyze the associations between their expressions and clinicopathological variables and survival.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggested that PD-L1 could be a favorable indicator of prognosis in ESCC.
Cancer Research Institute, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital and Key Laboratory Diagnosis and Treatment Technology on Thoracic Oncology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China.|Department of Oncology, The Second Clinical Medical College of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.
Kaiyan
K
Chen
Cancer Research Institute, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital and Key Laboratory Diagnosis and Treatment Technology on Thoracic Oncology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China.|Department of Pathology, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, China.
Guoping
G
Cheng
Cancer Research Institute, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital and Key Laboratory Diagnosis and Treatment Technology on Thoracic Oncology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China.
Fanrong
F
Zhang
Cancer Research Institute, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital and Key Laboratory Diagnosis and Treatment Technology on Thoracic Oncology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China.
Nan
N
Zhang
Cancer Research Institute, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital and Key Laboratory Diagnosis and Treatment Technology on Thoracic Oncology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China.|Department of Oncology, The Second Clinical Medical College of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.
Dan
D
Li
Cancer Research Institute, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital and Key Laboratory Diagnosis and Treatment Technology on Thoracic Oncology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China.
Jiaoyue
J
Jin
Cancer Research Institute, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital and Key Laboratory Diagnosis and Treatment Technology on Thoracic Oncology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China.
Junzhou
J
Wu
Cancer Research Institute, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital and Key Laboratory Diagnosis and Treatment Technology on Thoracic Oncology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China.
Lisha
L
Ying
Cancer Research Institute, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital and Key Laboratory Diagnosis and Treatment Technology on Thoracic Oncology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China.
Weimin
W
Mao
Cancer Research Institute, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital and Key Laboratory Diagnosis and Treatment Technology on Thoracic Oncology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China.
Dan
D
Su
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D060890:B7-H1 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D000077277:Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor / Q000378:metabolism*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis
D060890:B7-H1 Antigen; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C423236:CD274 protein, human; C105992:PDCD1 protein, human; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor
PD-1; PD-L1; esophageal cancer; immunochemistry; prognosis