Interactive Effects of PD-L1 Expression in Tumor and Immune Cells on Prognosis of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A One-Center Retrospective Cohort Study

Feng Shi; Shuo Xiao; Kaeli B Miller; Yanjie Zhao; Yuchen Li; Ying Gao; Hong Chang; Qingkun Song; Chenxu Qu

doi:10.2147/OTT.S258332

Interactive Effects of PD-L1 Expression in Tumor and Immune Cells on Prognosis of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A One-Center Retrospective Cohort Study

Onco Targets Ther. 2020 Jul 3:13:6565-6572. doi: 10.2147/OTT.S258332. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Feng Shi¹, Shuo Xiao², Kaeli B Miller², Yanjie Zhao³, Yuchen Li⁴, Ying Gao¹, Hong Chang¹, Qingkun Song^{5

6}, Chenxu Qu⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100038, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
³ Department of Medical Oncology, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100038, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Sid Faithfull Brain Cancer Research Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
⁵ Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-based Medicine, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100038, People's Republic of China.
⁶ Beijing Key Laboratory of Cancer Therapeutic Vaccines, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100038, People's Republic of China.
⁷ Gruber Laboratory, University of Southern California, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Abstract

Purpose: The present study aimed to investigate the prognostic effect of PD-L1 expressing in tumor and immune cells among patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Patients and methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study by consecutively recruiting 142 patients. The clinicopathological features and PD-L1 expression on tumor and immune cells were independently evaluated by two pathologists.

Results: The median expression rate of PD-L1 was 5% and 30% in tumor and immune cells, respectively. Patients with higher expression of PD-L1 in tumor cells had shorter disease-free and overall survival, and the HRs were 1.52 for relapse (95% CI: 0.88, 2.60) and 1.48 for death (95% CI: 0.82, 2.69). There was no significant association between the PD-L1 expression in immune cells and survival. However, among the patients with PD-L1 expression rate ≤30% in immune cells, the high expression rate of PD-L1 in tumor cells was significantly associated with the relapse and death, with HRs of 2.51 (95% CI: 1.25, 5.06) and 3.51 (95% CI: 1.57, 7.85), respectively. Among patients with PD-L1 expression rate >30% in immune cells, the PD-L1 expression in tumor cells did not show any association with the disease-free and overall survival.

Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that the integration of PD-L1 expression in tumor and immune cells could be used to predict the relapse and survival among patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Keywords: PD-L1; esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; prognosis; tumor cells and immune cells; tumor microenvironment.

Grants and funding

This study was financially supported by the Digestive Medical Coordinated Development Center of Beijing Hospitals Authority (QKSXXT16) and Beijing Municipal Bureau of Health (QKS 2015-3-057). The supporting organizations had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation.