TY - JOUR
T1 - PD-L1 expression in tongue squamous cell carcinoma
AU - Akisada, Naoki
AU - Nishimoto, Kohei
AU - Takao, Soshi
AU - Gion, Yuka
AU - Marunaka, Hidenori
AU - Tachibana, Tomoyasu
AU - Makino, Takuma
AU - Miki, Kentaro
AU - Akagi, Yusuke
AU - Tsumura, Munechika
AU - Toji, Tomohiro
AU - Yoshino, Tadashi
AU - Nishizaki, Kazunori
AU - Orita, Yorihisa
AU - Sato, Yasuharu
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Japanese Society for Clinical Molecular Morphology.
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Adjuvant therapy
KW - Nodal metastasis
KW - Programmed cell death 1
KW - Programmed cell death 1 ligand
KW - Tongue squamous cell carcinoma
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U2 - 10.1007/s00795-020-00261-7
DO - 10.1007/s00795-020-00261-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 32699939
AN - SCOPUS:85088473614
VL - 54
SP - 52
EP - 59
JO - Medical Molecular Morphology
JF - Medical Molecular Morphology
SN - 1860-1480
IS - 1
ER -