Expression of PD-1/PD-L1 in lung adenocarcinoma and its clinical significance*

Abstract

Abstract Objective This study aimed to investigate PD-1/PD-L1 expression in lung adenocarcinoma and its relationship with EGFR/KRAS mutation. Methods The expression levels of PD-1 and PD-L1 in lung adenocarcinoma were detected. Clinicopathological parameters were collected and followed up. The effects of PD-1 and PD-L1 expression on clinicopathological parameters and prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma were statistically analyzed. Results PD-L1 and PD-1 were mainly located in the membrane and cytoplasm of tumor cells. The positive expression rates of PD-1 and PD-L1 were 53% and 40%, respectively. Positive PD-1 expression had a significant effect on the incidence of KRAS mutation (P < 0.05), while PD-L1 expression significantly affected the incidence of EGFR mutation (P < 0.05). Overexpression of PD-1 and PD-L1 had a significant negative effect on disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with lung adenocarcinoma (P<0.05) but had no significant effect on overall survival (P > 0.05). EGFR gene mutation, high PD-1 expression, high PD-L1 expression, N stage, and AJCC stage were independent risk factors of DFS (P < 0.05). Conclusion High PD-1/PD-L1 expression is closely related to the occurrence of lung adenocarcinoma and can be used as an independent factor to assess the prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma. There were negative correlations between PD-L1 expression and EGFR mutation and between PD-1 expression and KRAS mutation.