Analysis of PD-L1, T-cell infiltrate and HLA expression in chondrosarcoma indicates potential for response to immunotherapy specifically in the dedifferentiated subtype

Mod Pathol. 2016 Sep;29(9):1028-37. doi: 10.1038/modpathol.2016.108. Epub 2016 Jun 17.

Abstract

Therapies targeting the programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) or its ligand (PD-L1) promote antitumor T-cell activity, leading to unprecedented long-lasting tumor responses in some advanced cancers. Because of radiotherapy and chemotherapy resistance, no effective treatments have been defined for advanced chondrosarcomas. We here report an immunohistochemical analysis of PD-L1 expression in a large series of conventional, mesenchymal, clear cell and dedifferentiated chondrosarcomas using tissue microarrays. In the PD-L1-positive tumors, we analyzed the immune microenvironment (T-cell and macrophage infiltration as well as HLA class I expression) using whole sections. PD-L1 expression was absent in conventional (n=119), mesenchymal (n=19) and clear cell (n=20) chondrosarcomas. Forty-one percent (9 of the 22) of dedifferentiated chondrosarcomas displayed PD-L1 positivity. These results were confirmed in an independent cohort using whole tissue sections of dedifferentiated chondrosarcomas in which PD-L1 expression was detected in 52% (11 of the 21) of cases. PD-L1 expression was exclusively found in the dedifferentiated component and expression positively correlated with other immune parameters such as high number of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (P=0.014) and positive HLA class I expression (P=0.024) but not with patient overall survival (P=0.22). The presence of PD-L1 expression in association with immune-infiltrating cells and HLA class I expression in nearly 50% of the dedifferentiated chondrosarcomas provides rationale for including these patients in clinical trials with PD-1/PD-L1-targeted therapies.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • B7-H1 Antigen / analysis*
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / analysis*
  • Bone Neoplasms / immunology*
  • Bone Neoplasms / pathology
  • Bone Neoplasms / therapy
  • Cell Dedifferentiation*
  • Chondrosarcoma / immunology*
  • Chondrosarcoma / pathology
  • Chondrosarcoma / therapy
  • Europe
  • HLA Antigens / analysis*
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Immunotherapy / methods
  • Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / immunology*
  • Molecular Targeted Therapy
  • Patient Selection
  • T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • Tissue Array Analysis

Substances

  • B7-H1 Antigen
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • CD274 protein, human
  • HLA Antigens