PD-L1 Expression and Tumor-infiltrating Lymphocytes in Breast Cancer: Clinicopathological Analysis in Women Younger than 40 Years Old

Abstract

Background/aim: To evaluate the association between programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression on both tumor cells (TC) and inflammatory cells (IC), tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), CD3⁺ and CD8⁺ lymphocytes and other clinicopathological parameters in primary infiltrative breast cancer (IBC) of young women, a population shown to have a worse prognosis.

Materials and methods: A retrospective study was performed collecting data from patients younger than 40 years old. Forty-five young women with IBC were included. Whole tissue sections were used to evaluate all parameters.

Results: Twenty percent (20%) of cases showed PD-L1 expression by tumor cells (PDL1TC) and 44.4% showed PD-L1 expression by immune cells (PDL1IC). Furthermore, 28.88% revealed high stromal TILs. PDL1TC and PDL1IC expression were significantly associated with tumor diameter and expression of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors and Ki67. PDL1TC expression was also associated with grade. High TILs were associated with tumor diameter, ER and Ki67 expression. PDL1TC, PDL1IC expression and TILs were associated with the density of CD3⁺ and CD8⁺ lymphocytes.

Conclusion: Our results are similar to those of other age groups, as reported in the literature.

Keywords: Breast cancer; PD-L1; TILs; young women.