Background: Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression is a standard predictor in the selection of immunotherapy for locally advanced/advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, comedication with corticosteroids or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may influence the effectiveness of this treatment as documented in several previous studies. Due to certain molecular linkages between PD-L1 and corticosteroids or NSAIDs, we therefore addressed the question of whether there is a relationship between PD-L1 expression in NSCLC and the use of this comedication.
Methods: This is a retrospective study using the Czech tumor registry LUng CAncer focuS (LUCAS), from which patient data were drawn. Independence of two categorical parameters was tested by Pearson's chi-square test.
Results: In our group of 1,148 patients, we observed no significant relationship between PD-L1 expression and the use of corticosteroids or NSAIDs.
Conclusions: According to our data, treatment with corticosteroids or NSAIDs during biopsy does not affect the expression of PD-L1 and it is therefore not necessary to take this treatment into account in this regard.
Keywords: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); corticosteroids; lung cancer; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs); programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1).
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