A study on expression of programmed death ligand-1 in small cell lung carcinoma and correlation with clinicopathological parameters.

Abstract

Small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) is characterized by rapid growth and an aggressive clinical course. Standard therapy regimes have limited effects on disease course; therefore theprognosis ofSCLC is poor. In thecurrent study, thefrequency ofprogrammed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in SCLC and its correlation with clinico-pathological features were evaluated. Thestudy included 100 cases ofSCLC wherein testing for PD-L1 was done with theSP263 clone on theVentana benchmark XT system. Cases with > 1% PD-L1 expression in tumour cells or immune cells were categorized as positive. PD-L1 expression was identified in 14% ofcases using thecut-off of≥ 1%. Thetumour proportion score was 10% and theimmune proportion score was 9.78% using acut-off of≥ 1%. PD-L1 positive expression was more frequent in themale population with age > 40 years. All thepatients with positive PD-L1 expression were smokers. In thePD-L1 positive group, presence ofnecrosis was identified in 71.4% ofcases and when compared with thePD-L1 negative subgroup this finding was statistically significant (p = 0.010). Personalized targeted therapy for cases ofSCLC is still under evaluation. Theuse ofimmunotherapeutic targets, such as PD-L1, may help to define anew treatment strategy for SCLC. Development ofnew treatment strategies may improve prognosis and survival.