Dynamic contrast‑enhanced MRI as a predictor of programmed death ligand‑1 expression in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma

Tekiki,Nouha; Fujita,Mariko; Okui,Tatsuo; Kawai,Hotaka; Oo,May Wathone; Kawazu,Toshiyuki; Hisatomi,Miki; Okada,Shunsuke; Takeshita,Yohei; Barham,Majd; Nagatsuka,Hitoshi; Yanagi,Yoshinobu; Asaumi,Jun-Ichi

doi:10.3892/ol.2021.13039

Dynamic contrast‑enhanced MRI as a predictor of programmed death ligand‑1 expression in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma

Authors:
- Nouha Tekiki
- Mariko Fujita
- Tatsuo Okui
- Hotaka Kawai
- May Wathone Oo
- Toshiyuki Kawazu
- Miki Hisatomi
- Shunsuke Okada
- Yohei Takeshita
- Majd Barham
- Hitoshi Nagatsuka
- Yoshinobu Yanagi
- Jun-Ichi Asaumi
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Affiliations: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama 700‑8558, Japan, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama 700‑8558, Japan, Department of Oral Pathology and Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama 700‑8558, Japan, Department of Oral Diagnosis and Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama 700‑8558, Japan, Department of Dental Informatics, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama 700‑8558, Japan
Published online on: September 13, 2021 https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2021.13039
Article Number: 778
Copyright: © Tekiki et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting programmed death ligand‑1 (PD‑L1) are highly promising therapies for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The assessment of PD‑L1 expression may help predicting the therapeutic effect of ICIs and, thus, benefit patient selection. Contrast index (CI) parameters derived from dynamic contrast‑enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE‑MRI) have been proven as efficient to assess microvessel density (MVD) in OSCC. The present study aimed to determine the correlation between DCE‑MRI parameters and MVD and between DCE‑MRI parameters and PD‑L1 expression to determine whether DCE‑MRI could be used non‑invasively to evaluate PD‑L1 expression in patients with OSCC. A total of 21 patients with primary OSCC who had undergone a 3T MRI scan, including DCE‑MRI, were included in the present study, and CI curve‑derived parameters were examined. The MVD and PD‑L1 expression in the surgically resected specimens were analyzed using immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining for CD31 and IHC staining for PD‑L1, respectively. The results demonstrated that the expression levels of these markers were correlated with DCE‑MRI parameters. PD‑L1 expression levels were found to be significantly correlated with the maximum CI (CI‑max; P=0.007), peak CI (CI‑peak; P=0.007), maximum CI gain (CI‑gain; P=0.006) and MVD (P=0.001) values. The mean CI‑max, CI‑peak, CI‑gain and MVD values were significantly higher in tumors with high PD‑L1 expression (P<0.05). MVD levels were also significantly correlated with the time of CI‑max (T‑max; P=0.003) and CI‑gain (P=0.037). The mean CI‑gain was significantly increased, and the mean T‑max was significantly shorter in high MVD tumors (P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively). In summary, the findings from the present study confirmed the correlation between CI parameters, derived from DCE‑MRI, and MVD, and suggested that these parameters may be correlated with PD‑L1 expression in OSCC tumor cells.

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