Naoki Akisada1, Kohei Nishimoto2, Soshi Takao3, Yuka Gion4, Hidenori Marunaka5, Tomoyasu Tachibana6, Takuma Makino5, Kentaro Miki5, Yusuke Akagi7, Munechika Tsumura5, Tomohiro Toji4, Tadashi Yoshino4, Kazunori Nishizaki5, Yorihisa Orita8, Yasuharu Sato4. 1. Department of Otolaryngology, Okayama Red Cross Hospital, Okayama, 700-8607, Japan. 2. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kumamoto University, 1-1-1 Honjo, Kumamoto-City, Kumamoto, 860-8556, Japan. 3. Department of Epidemiology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan. 4. Departments of Pathology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan. 5. Departments of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan. 6. Department of Otolaryngology, Himeji Red Cross Hospital, Himeji, Hyogo, 670-8540, Japan. 7. Departments of Otolaryngology, Okayama Medical Center, Okayama, 701-1192, Japan. 8. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kumamoto University, 1-1-1 Honjo, Kumamoto-City, Kumamoto, 860-8556, Japan. yoriorita@kumamoto-u.ac.jp.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Immune checkpoint proteins programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) are important therapeutic targets for head and neck cancer. This large-scale case study aimed to analyze tongue squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) and evaluate the correlation between PD-L1 expression and clinical prognosis. So far, this study is the largest case study on PD-L1 expression in tongue SCCs. METHODS: This is a case-control study that analyzed 121 tongue SCCs. Paraffin-embedded sections and clinical data were obtained retrospectively and immunohistochemistry with PD-L1 was performed. RESULTS: 11.6% contained ≥ 50% of PD-L1-positive cells, 57.1% of these cases had a poor prognosis with nodal metastasis. Among cases of T1/2 primary lesions with nodal metastasis, cases of high PD-L1 expression had a significantly shorter disease-free survival than cases of no PD-L1 expression (p = 0.018). The hazard ratio for high PD-L1 expression was 3.21 (95 per cent CI, 1.26-8.72) compared with no PD-L1 expression after adjusting for other factors. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that PD-L1 upregulation in tongue SCCs is associated with a more advanced stage and shorter disease-free survival. PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors might hence constitute potential adjuvant therapy for tongue SCCs with PD-L1 upregulation.
PURPOSE: Immune checkpoint proteins programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) are important therapeutic targets for head and neck cancer. This large-scale case study aimed to analyze tongue squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) and evaluate the correlation between PD-L1 expression and clinical prognosis. So far, this study is the largest case study on PD-L1 expression in tongue SCCs. METHODS: This is a case-control study that analyzed 121 tongue SCCs. Paraffin-embedded sections and clinical data were obtained retrospectively and immunohistochemistry with PD-L1 was performed. RESULTS: 11.6% contained ≥ 50% of PD-L1-positive cells, 57.1% of these cases had a poor prognosis with nodal metastasis. Among cases of T1/2 primary lesions with nodal metastasis, cases of high PD-L1 expression had a significantly shorter disease-free survival than cases of no PD-L1 expression (p = 0.018). The hazard ratio for high PD-L1 expression was 3.21 (95 per cent CI, 1.26-8.72) compared with no PD-L1 expression after adjusting for other factors. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that PD-L1 upregulation in tongue SCCs is associated with a more advanced stage and shorter disease-free survival. PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors might hence constitute potential adjuvant therapy for tongue SCCs with PD-L1 upregulation.
Entities:
Keywords:
Adjuvant therapy; Nodal metastasis; Programmed cell death 1; Programmed cell death 1 ligand; Tongue squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: D G Pfister; K Ang; B Brockstein; A D Colevas; J Ellenhorn; H Goepfert; W L Hicks; W K Hong; M S Kies; W Lydiatt; T McCaffrey; B B Mittal; J A Ridge; D E Schuller; J P Shah; S Spencer; A Trotti; S Urba; E A Weymuller; R H Wheeler; G T Wolf Journal: Oncology (Williston Park) Date: 2000-11 Impact factor: 2.990