Expression of programmed death ligand-1 predicts poor outcome in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Li,Ying‑Fei; Ding,Jian‑Wu; Liao,Ling‑Min; Zhang,Zhi‑Lin; Liao,Shou‑Sheng; Wu,Ying; Zhou,Dan‑Yang; Liu,An‑Wen; Huang,Long

doi:10.3892/mco.2017.1318

Expression of programmed death ligand-1 predicts poor outcome in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Authors:
- Ying‑Fei Li
- Jian‑Wu Ding
- Ling‑Min Liao
- Zhi‑Lin Zhang
- Shou‑Sheng Liao
- Ying Wu
- Dan‑Yang Zhou
- An‑Wen Liu
- Long Huang
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Affiliations: Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, P.R. China, Department of Ultrasound, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, P.R. China, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, P.R. China, Department of Pathology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, P.R. China
Published online on: July 13, 2017 https://doi.org/10.3892/mco.2017.1318
Pages: 378-382
Copyright: © Li et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Programmed death ligand‑1 (PD‑L1) is a potentially important tumor immunotherapy target. However, whether PD‑L1 expression is associated with survival in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between PD‑L1 expression and prognosis in NPC. The expression of PD‑L1 was assessed in tumor specimens from 120 patients with NPC using immunohistochemistry. Staining was evaluated using the H‑score method. The associations between PD‑L1 expression and clinical characteristics and prognosis were analyzed. Overall, 78% of the patients had stage I‑III and 22% had stage IV disease. The estimated 5‑year overall survival (OS) and disease‑free survival (DFS) rates for the entire cohort were 87.5 and 70.1%, respectively. PD‑L1 expression was detected in 85 (71%) patients and was localized to the tumor cells. High tumor expression of PD‑L1 (median H‑score ≥5) was associated with significantly poorer OS (P=0.023) and DFS (P=0.002). Univariate analysis indicated that low PD‑L1 expression was associated with better DFS compared with high PD‑L1 expression (HR=0.163, 95% CI: 0.044‑0.600, P=0.006 for DFS). Multivariate analysis revealed that T stage (HR=8.190, 95% CI: 1.355‑18.152; P=0.023) and PD‑L1 expression level (HR=0.124, 95% CI: 0.031‑0.509; P=0.001) served as independent prognostic factors for DFS. In conclusion, tumor PD‑L1 expression was found to be a significant prognostic factor in NPC, and high PD‑L1 expression may be of prognostic value for recurrence and metastasis following conventional treatments.

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