title: Higher programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) mRNA level in clear cell renal cell carcinomas is associated with a favorable outcome due to the active immune responses in tumor tissues.
abstract: Renal cell carcinoma is one of the most common urological tumors. The role of programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) in renal cell carcinomas in predicting outcome of the patients is yet unclear. We analyzed the clinical and RNA-seq data of 522 kidney clear cell cancer, 259 kidney papillary cell carcinoma and 66 kidney chromophobe patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. In kidney clear cell cancer patients with high PD-L1 mRNA level and low PD-L1 mRNA level in tumors, the median overall survival periods were 45.0 and 37.1 months respectively (p=0.002). Multivariate Cox regression tests found that PD-L1 mRNA level in tumor was an independent predictor for overall survival status in kidney clear cell cancer patients (HR=0.7, 95% CI 0.5-0.9, p=0.007). However, no significant difference in overall survival status was found between high and low PD-L1 groups in kidney papillary cell carcinoma and kidney chromophobe cohorts. Gene-set enrichment analysis on the data from databases of TCGA and GSE53757 dataset in Gene Expression Omnibus databases showed that several pathways relating to immunological functions were activated in kidney clear cell cancers with high PD-L1 mRNA expression, and glycolysis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition pathways relating to tumor progression and metastasis were increased in kidney clear cell cancers with low PD-L1 mRNA level. In conclusion, higher PD-L1 mRNA level in kidney clear cell cancer tissues was associated with a favorable outcome due to the higher immunological responses in tumor tissues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|Institute of Urology, Peking University, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|National Urological Cancer Center, Beijing 100034, P.R China.
authors.forename: Xiang-Hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|Institute of Urology, Peking University, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|National Urological Cancer Center, Beijing 100034, P.R China.
authors.forename: Yan-Qing
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|Institute of Urology, Peking University, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|National Urological Cancer Center, Beijing 100034, P.R China.
authors.forename: Shi-Ming
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|Institute of Urology, Peking University, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|National Urological Cancer Center, Beijing 100034, P.R China.
authors.forename: Teng
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|Institute of Urology, Peking University, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|National Urological Cancer Center, Beijing 100034, P.R China.
authors.forename: Jiang-Yi
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|Institute of Urology, Peking University, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|National Urological Cancer Center, Beijing 100034, P.R China.
authors.forename: Shuang-He
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|Institute of Urology, Peking University, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|National Urological Cancer Center, Beijing 100034, P.R China.
authors.forename: Jin-Chao
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|Institute of Urology, Peking University, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|National Urological Cancer Center, Beijing 100034, P.R China.
authors.forename: Jia-Yuan
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|Institute of Urology, Peking University, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|National Urological Cancer Center, Beijing 100034, P.R China.
authors.forename: Nie-Nie
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|Institute of Urology, Peking University, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|National Urological Cancer Center, Beijing 100034, P.R China.
authors.forename: Ying-Lu
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|Institute of Urology, Peking University, Beijing 100034, P.R China.|National Urological Cancer Center, Beijing 100034, P.R China.
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D060890:B7-H1 Antigen / Q000235:genetics*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007110:Immunity, Active / Q000235:genetics*; D056747:Immunomodulation / Q000235:genetics; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D015398:Signal Transduction; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D060890:B7-H1 Antigen; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C423236:CD274 protein, human; D016207:Cytokines; D012333:RNA, Messenger
keywords: immune response; prognosis; programmed death 1 ligand-1; renal cell carcinoma