Erschienen in:
27.02.2019 | Translational Research and Biomarkers
A Clinicopathological and Prognostic Analysis of PD-L2 Expression in Surgically Resected Primary Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma
verfasst von:
Taichi Matsubara, MD, Kazuki Takada, MD, PhD, Koichi Azuma, MD, PhD, Shinkichi Takamori, MD, PhD, Gouji Toyokawa, MD, PhD, Akira Haro, MD, PhD, Atsushi Osoegawa, MD, PhD, Tetsuzo Tagawa, MD, PhD, Akihiko Kawahara, PhD, Jun Akiba, PhD, Isamu Okamoto, MD, PhD, Yoichi Nakanishi, MD, PhD, Yoshinao Oda, MD, PhD, Tomoaki Hoshino, MD, PhD, Yoshihiko Maehara, MD, PhD
Erschienen in:
Annals of Surgical Oncology
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Ausgabe 6/2019
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Abstract
Background
Immunotherapy targeting programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) has shown dramatic therapeutic effects for lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and PD-L1 expression has been shown not only to be a predictive biomarker for response to immunotherapy but also a prognostic factor for lung SCC. However, the clinical significance of programmed death-ligand 2 (PD-L2), another PD-1 ligand, remains unclear. Therefore, we analyzed PD-L2 expression by immunohistochemistry in surgically resected primary lung SCC.
Patients and Methods
PD-L1 and PD-L2 expression on tumor cells were analyzed in 211 primary lung SCC specimens by immunohistochemistry. Additionally, numbers of CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes were also examined.
Results
The rates of positive PD-L2 expression were 77.3% and 67.3% using 5% and 10% cut-off values, respectively. Low PD-L2 expression on tumor cells was statistically associated with histological type (non-keratinizing/keratinizing) and lymphatic invasion. PD-L2-positive patients had significantly longer postoperative survival time (log-rank test; p = 0.0170 at 5% cut-off and p = 0.0500 at 10% cut-off). Furthermore, survival analysis according to PD-L1 and PD-L2 expression revealed that PD-L1-positive and PD-L2-negative patients had the most unfavorable prognosis.
Conclusions
PD-L2 protein expression was associated with prognosis in primary lung SCC patients. PD-L2 expression might be a potential biomarker for response to PD-1/PD-L1-targeted immunotherapy, which should be investigated in future studies.