Expression of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is associated with poor prognosis in human breast cancer

S Muenst, AR Schaerli, F Gao, S Däster… - Breast cancer research …, 2014 - Springer
S Muenst, AR Schaerli, F Gao, S Däster, E Trella, RA Droeser, MG Muraro, P Zajac…
Breast cancer research and treatment, 2014Springer
Recent studies in multiple epithelial cancers have shown that the inhibitory receptor
programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) is expressed on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and/or
programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is expressed on tumor cells, suggesting that antitumor
immunity may be modulated by the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway. In addition, phase 1
clinical trials with monoclonal antibodies targeting PD-1 or PD-L1 have shown promising
results in several human cancers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of …
Abstract
Recent studies in multiple epithelial cancers have shown that the inhibitory receptor programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) is expressed on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and/or programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is expressed on tumor cells, suggesting that antitumor immunity may be modulated by the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway. In addition, phase 1 clinical trials with monoclonal antibodies targeting PD-1 or PD-L1 have shown promising results in several human cancers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of PD-L1 expression in human breast cancer specimens. We conducted an immunohistochemistry study using a tissue microarray encompassing 650 evaluable formalin-fixed breast cancer cases with detailed clinical annotation and outcomes data. PD-L1 was expressed in 152 (23.4 %) of the 650 breast cancer specimens. Expression was significantly associated with age, tumor size, AJCC primary tumor classification, tumor grade, lymph node status, absence of ER expression, and high Ki-67 expression. In univariate analysis, PD-L1 expression was associated with a significantly worse OS. In multivariate analysis, PD-L1 expression remained an independent negative prognostic factor for OS. In subset analyses, expression of PD-L1 was associated with significantly worse OS in the luminal B HER2 subtype, the luminal B HER2+ subtype, the HER2 subtype, and the basal-like subtype. This is the first study to demonstrate that PD-L1 expression is an independent negative prognostic factor in human breast cancer. This finding has important implications for the application of antibody therapies targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway in this disease.
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