Abstract
AimsTo evaluate the expression of programmed death-1 (PD-1) and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and their clinical and prognostic significance in primary esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).ResultsThe expression rate of PD-1 and PD-L1 in ESCC was 33.5% (117/349) and 41.4% (222/536), respectively. PD-L1 expression differed significantly by tumor location, grade, lymph node metastases, and disease stage (P < 0.05). Moreover, its expression was associated with the disease free survival (DFS). Patients with positive PD-L1 expression had reduced risk for disease relapse compared to those without PD-L1 expression (Hazard ratio [HR] = 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.56–1.00, P = 0.048). Kaplan-Meier curves showed the similar result, P = 0.047. However, there was no significant correlation between PD-1 expression and clinicopathological factors or outcome in ESCC (P > 0.05).MethodsThe expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 was assessed by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays from 536 primary ESCC who underwent surgery during January 2008 and April 2012 in Zhejiang Cancer Hospital. Chi-square test and Cox proportional hazards regression were employed to analyze the associations between their expressions and clinicopathological variables and survival.ConclusionsOur results suggested that PD-L1 could be a favorable indicator of prognosis in ESCC.
Highlights
Esophageal carcinoma is one of the most aggressive carcinomas, which is the sixth leading cause of cancerrelated mortality worldwide [1]
There was no significant correlation between Programmed death-1 (PD-1) expression and clinicopathological factors or outcome in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) (P > 0.05)
Our results suggested that programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) could be a favorable indicator of prognosis in ESCC
Summary
Esophageal carcinoma is one of the most aggressive carcinomas, which is the sixth leading cause of cancerrelated mortality worldwide [1]. Approximate, 70% of global esophageal cancer cases occur in China [2], and 90% of them are esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) [3]. Immune resistance plays an important role in the initiation and development of many malignant tumors, including ESCC [5, 6]. Costimulatory signaling has been implicated as one of the potential immune resistance mechanisms, which is critical for the regulation of T-cell activation [7]. Programmed death-1 (PD-1), one of the negative costimulatory molecules, is the key immune checkpoint receptor to inhibit T-cell activation [5]. Belonging to the CD28 family, it is expressed on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) including T cells, B cells, and myeloid cells [7].
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