The potential of programmed death ligand-1 expression in ovarian malignant germ cell tumors as a prognostic factor

Abstract

Abstract Background: Ovarian malignant germ cell tumors (OMGCT) that fail to recover with conventional management have a poor prognosis. Several recurrent events after chemotherapy have been found. Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) is expressed in various malignancies and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) with a known role as a prognostic factor. Objective: To determine the role of PD-L1 expression in OMGCT in determining overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Methods: Expression of PD-L1 was assessed from PD-L1 immunohisto-chemistry in paraffin block preparations from 40 patients diagnosed with OMGCT who met the inclusion criteria. The relationship between clinicopathological characteristics and OS and PFS was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and multivariate analysis using the Cox regression model. Results: No significant relationship was found between PD-L1 expression in tumor cells with 2-year OS (p=0.275) and PFS (p=0.421) in OMGCT. A significant association was found between histopathologic types with 2-year OS (p=0.002), and cancer stage with 2- year OS (p=0.028) and PFS (p=0.014). Conclusion: PD-L1 expression in tumor cells was not related to OS and PFS in OMGCT patients. There is a tendency for death and recurrence in patients OMGCTs with low PD-L1 expression in tumor cells.