Abstract
IntroductionThe aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of PD-L1 in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Its relation with clinicopathological variables, tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and survival was also determined.ResultsPositive PD-L1 status for the SP142 clone related with improved overall survival in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Tumors heavily infiltrated by tumor infiltrating lymphocytes were also linked with better outcome, and this as well for the total number of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes as for the CD3+ and CD8+ T cell count. A Cox proportional hazard model proved that solely infiltrating CD8+ T cells exhibit a positive effect on overall survival (hazard ratio = 0.31 [0.14–0.70]; P = 0.0050)Materials and MethodsFormalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue from oropharyngeal tumors of 99 patients was immunohistochemically stained for PD-L1 (SP142 and 22C3 clones), CD3, CD8 and FoxP3. Expression of PD-L1, CD3, CD8, FoxP3 and HPV status were correlated with clinicopathological variables. Overall survival was determined by a log-rank (Mantel–Cox) test whereas the Cox proportional hazard model was used for multivariate analysis.ConclusionsOur results demonstrate that CD8+ T lymphocytes constitute an independent prognostic marker in patients diagnosed with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. PD-L1 positivity for SP142, but not for 22C3, also tends to have a positive effect on survival in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
Highlights
The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of PD-L1 in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma
Positive PD-L1 status for the SP142 clone related with improved overall survival in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma
Tumors heavily infiltrated by tumor infiltrating lymphocytes were linked with better outcome, and this as well for the total number of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes as for the CD3+ and CD8+ T cell count
Summary
The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of PD-L1 in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. HPV-associated OSCC seems to be a distinct clinical entity, compared to tobacco related squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN): patients (1) tend to be younger, (2) lack a history of smoking and/or alcohol abuse and (3) have a significant survival benefit [1, 3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. These observations have raised the possibility that some of these patients www.impactjournals.com/oncotarget receive unnecessary treatment and are exposed to unnecessary toxicity. In addition we assessed the effect of PD-L1 status and the tumor immune cell infiltrate on outcome
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