Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is among the most lethal urologic malignancies once metastatic. Current treatment approaches for metastatic RCC (mRCC) involve immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) that target the PD-L1/PD-1 axis. High PD-L1 expression in tumor tissue has been identified as a negative prognostic factor in RCC. However, the role of PD-L1 as a liquid biomarker has not yet been fully explored. Herein, we analyze urine levels of PD-L1 in mRCC patients before and after either ICI therapy or surgical intervention, as well as in a series of patients with treatment-naïve RCC.
Patients and methods: The mid-stream urine of patients with mRCC (n = 4) or treatment-naïve RCC, i.e., prior to surgery from two centers (cohort I, n = 49: cohort II, n = 29) was analyzed for PD-L1 by ELISA. The results from cohort I were compared to a control group consisting of patients treated for non-malignant urologic diseases (n = 31). In the mRCC group, urine PD-L1 levels were measured before and after tumor nephrectomy (n = 1) or before and after ICI therapy (n = 3). Exosomal PD-L1 in the urine was analyzed in selected patients by immunoblotting.
Results: A strong decrease in urine PD-L1 levels was found after tumor nephrectomy or following systemic treatment with ICIs. In patients with treatment-naïve RCC (cohort I), urine PD-L1 levels were significantly elevated in the RCC group in comparison to the control group (median 59 pg/mL vs. 25.7 pg/mL, p = 0.011). PD-L1 urine levels were found to be elevated, in particular, in low-grade RCCs in cohorts I and II. Exosomal PD-L1 was detected in the urine of a subset of patients.
Conclusion: In this proof-of-concept study, we show that PD-L1 can be detected in the urine of RCC patients. Urine PD-L1 levels were found to correlate with the treatment response in mRCC patients and were significantly elevated in treatment-naïve RCC patients.
Keywords: PD-L1; RCC; biomarker; immunotherapy; urine.