PD-L1 Expression in Men with Penile Cancer and its Association with Clinical OutcomesShow others and affiliations
2019 (English)In: European Urology Oncology, E-ISSN 2588-9311, Vol. 2, no 2, p. 214-221Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Background: It has been hypothesized that PD-L1 expression in tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating immune (TII) cells may contribute to tumor progression by inhibiting antitumor immunity.
Objective: To investigate the association between PD-L1 expression in tumor cells and TII cells and clinical outcomes in penile cancer.
Design, setting, and participants: A cohort of 222 men treated for penile squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) at Örebro University Hospital between 1984 and 2008 with long-term follow-up (median 34 mo) was evaluated for PD-L1 expression in tumor cells and TII cells via immunohistochemistry.
Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: Association between clinicopathological features and PD-L1 expression was estimated using χ2 and Fisher's exact tests. For survival analyses, Kaplan-Meier curves with log-rank tests and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models were used.
Results and limitations: We found that 32.1% of the tumors and 64.2% of the TII cells expressed PD-L1. Our data demonstrate that penile SqCC patients with PD-L1–positive tumor cells or TII cells are at significant risk of lower cancer-specific survival and that the prognostic value of PD-L1 expression was strongest for tumor cell positivity. The use of tissue microarrays rather than whole sections may be viewed as a limitation.
Conclusions: Tumor PD-L1 expression independently identifies penile SqCC patients at risk of poor clinical outcomes.
Patient summary: We investigated how many patients with penile cancer had tumors that manufactured PD-L1, a protein that decreases the ability of the immune system to fight cancer. We found that up to one-third of penile tumors make this protein. Patients whose tumors make PD-L1 have more aggressive penile cancer and worse clinical outcomes.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2019. Vol. 2, no 2, p. 214-221
Keywords [en]
Penile squamos cell carcinoma, Immunohistochemistry, PD-L1
National Category
Urology and Nephrology Cancer and Oncology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-73687DOI: 10.1016/j.euo.2018.07.010ISI: 000474610700014PubMedID: 31017099Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85065334391OAI: oai:DiVA.org:oru-73687DiVA, id: diva2:1304626
2019-04-122019-04-122023-08-25Bibliographically approved