Abstract
Recently, the interest in programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) as a prognostic marker in several types of malignant tumors has increased. In the present meta-analysis, we aimed to explore the prognostic and clinicopathological value of PD-L1 in breast cancer. We searched Medline/PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library databases, and grey literature from inception until January 20, 2016. Studies concerning breast cancer that focused on PD-L1 expression and studies reporting survival data were included; two authors independently performed the data extraction. The pooled risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were assessed to determine the association between the clinicopathological parameters of patients and PD-L1 expression. Five studies involving 2061 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The results indicated that positive/higher PD-L1 expression was a negative predictor for breast cancer, with an RR of 1.64 (95% CI, 1.14–2.34) for the total mortality risk and an RR of 2.53 (95% CI, 1.78–3.59) for the mortality risk 10 years after surgery. Moreover, positive/higher PD-L1 expression was significantly associated with positive lymph node metastasis (RR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.04–1.70), poor nuclear grade (RR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.07–1.43), and negative estrogen receptor status (RR, 2.45; 95% CI, 1.31–4.60) in breast cancer patients. Our findings suggest that PD-L1 can serve as a significant biomarker for poor prognosis and the adverse clinicopathologic features of breast cancer and could facilitate the better management of individual patients.
Highlights
Breast cancer is currently the most frequently diagnosed cancer and is the leading cause of cancer-related death in women; in 2012, a total of 1.7 million new cases breast cancer and 521,000 cases of breast cancer-related mortality were reported worldwide [1]
We focused on the prognostic utility of programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) in breast cancer and its relationship with the clinicopathological features of breast cancer patients
We observed that the pooled risk ratio (RR) value for mortality in breast cancer patients was 1.64, which suggests that patients with positive/higher PD-L1 expression have significantly poorer outcomes, as compared to patients with negative/lower PD-L1 expression
Summary
Breast cancer is currently the most frequently diagnosed cancer and is the leading cause of cancer-related death in women; in 2012, a total of 1.7 million new cases breast cancer and 521,000 cases of breast cancer-related mortality were reported worldwide [1]. The prognosis, classification, and treatment of breast cancer is dependent on tumor histological grading, lymph node stage, and tumor stage (TNM), as well as 3 major protein markers: PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0156323. PD-L1 as a Prognostic Marker for Breast Cancer estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor 2 (HER2) [2, 3]. Breast cancer is generally not considered an immunogenic malignancy. Even though breast cancer cells use immune pathways to evade antitumor immune responses and progressively grow and metastasize, no treatment that enhances the antitumor immune response is currently used [4]. Some investigators have begun to focus on novel immunotherapeutic strategies for treating breast cancer
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
