Comparative study of pd-l1 expression in paired fine-needle aspiration and core biopsy specimens of non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting programmed death-1 improve survival in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with tumours that express programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) in at least 50% of tumour cells. While tissue biopsy specimens are established as suitable specimens for PD-L1 assessment, the role of cytology in guiding the use of PD-1 inhibitors is not yet clear.