Department of Gynecology and Gynecological Oncology, Center for Integrated Oncology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Institute of Pathology, Center for Integrated Oncology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Anticancer Res. 2022 Mar;42(3):1367-1376. doi: 10.21873/anticanres.15606.
BACKGROUND/AIM: Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is one of the most common gynecological cancers in the Western Hemisphere. Nevertheless, there are not enough appropriate treatment options, especially for advanced stages. The immune checkpoint blockade represents a promising alternative to established cancer therapies by suppressing the immune-inhibitory activity of the immune checkpoint factors programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1). In the present study, we characterized the clinical relevance of the biomarker PD-L1 expression in terms of its prognostic capabilities in EC.
Tumor tissue samples from 87 EC patients were retrospectively analyzed by immunohistochemistry (PD-L1, p16, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, HER2/neu, Ki-67, CD3, CD20, CD68).
A total of 17.3% of EC patients were PD-L1 positive. PD-L1 status did not represent a suitable prognostic marker in EC, but correlated with T3/T4stage, positive lymph node status, p16 expression, and absence of estrogen and progesterone receptor. PD-L1 positive tissues showed increased infiltration with lymphocytes, monocytes, and macrophages, although not statistically significant in every case.
In EC, PD-L1 expression has no prognostic significance, but correlates with other oncogenic factors and indicates increased infiltration of the tumor with immune cells. Thus, PD-1/PD-L1 immunecheckpoint blockade seems to be very promising, at least in a subset of EC patients.
背景/目的：子宫内膜癌（EC）是西半球最常见的妇科癌症之一。然而，目前的治疗选择并不足够合适，尤其是对于晚期患者。免疫检查点阻断通过抑制免疫检查点因子程序性细胞死亡蛋白-1（PD-1）和程序性细胞死亡配体-1（PD-L1）的免疫抑制活性，为现有癌症治疗方法提供了一种很有前途的替代方案。在本研究中，我们根据其在 EC 中的预后能力，对生物标志物 PD-L1 表达的临床相关性进行了特征描述。
回顾性分析了 87 例 EC 患者的肿瘤组织样本，采用免疫组织化学方法检测 PD-L1、p16、雌激素受体、孕激素受体、HER2/neu、Ki-67、CD3、CD20、CD68。
共有 17.3%的 EC 患者 PD-L1 阳性。PD-L1 状态在 EC 中不是一个合适的预后标志物，但与 T3/T4 期、阳性淋巴结状态、p16 表达以及缺乏雌激素和孕激素受体有关。PD-L1 阳性组织中淋巴细胞、单核细胞和巨噬细胞浸润增加，但并非在所有情况下均具有统计学意义。
在 EC 中，PD-L1 表达没有预后意义，但与其他致癌因素相关，并表明肿瘤内免疫细胞浸润增加。因此，PD-1/PD-L1 免疫检查点阻断似乎很有前途，至少在一部分 EC 患者中如此。
