PD-L1 (CD274) promoter methylation predicts survival in colorectal cancer patients

Diane Goltz; Heidrun Gevensleben; Jörn Dietrich; Dimo Dietrich

doi:10.1080/2162402X.2016.1257454

PD-L1 (CD274) promoter methylation predicts survival in colorectal cancer patients

Oncoimmunology. 2016 Nov 10;6(1):e1257454. doi: 10.1080/2162402X.2016.1257454. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Diane Goltz¹, Heidrun Gevensleben¹, Jörn Dietrich², Dimo Dietrich³

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Bonn , Bonn, Germany.
² Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Bonn , Bonn, Germany.
³ Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany; Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.

Abstract

This study evaluates promoter methylation of the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) as a biomarker in a cohort of 383 colorectal cancer patients. PD-L1 methylation (mPD-L1) was inversely correlated with PD-L1 mRNA expression (p = 0.001) and was associated with significantly shorter overall survival (OS, p = 0.003) and recurrence-free survival (RFS, p < 0.001). In age-stratified multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses including sex, tumor, nodal, distant metastasis categories, microsatellite instability (MSI)-status, and PD-L1 mRNA, mPD-L1 is classified as an independent prognostic factor (OS: p = 0.030; RFS: p < 0.001). Further studies are needed to evaluate PD-L1 methylation as a biomarker for response prediction of immunotherapies targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis.

Keywords: CD274; DNA methylation; PD-L1; colorectal cancer; immunotherapeutic; immunotherapies; immunotherapy; microsatellite instability; prognostic biomarker.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't