1. PD-L1 is highly expressed in lung lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma: A potential rationale for immunotherapy.
- Author
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Chang YL, Yang CY, Lin MW, Wu CT, and Yang PC
- Subjects
- Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase, B7-H1 Antigen metabolism, Carcinoma mortality, Carcinoma therapy, Cohort Studies, ErbB Receptors genetics, ErbB Receptors metabolism, Female, Humans, Immunohistochemistry, Immunotherapy, Lung Neoplasms mortality, Lung Neoplasms therapy, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplasm Metastasis, Neoplasm Staging, Prognosis, Protein-Tyrosine Kinases genetics, Protein-Tyrosine Kinases metabolism, Proto-Oncogene Proteins genetics, Proto-Oncogene Proteins metabolism, Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf genetics, Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf metabolism, Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases genetics, Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases metabolism, ras Proteins genetics, ras Proteins metabolism, B7-H1 Antigen genetics, Carcinoma genetics, Carcinoma pathology, Gene Expression, Lung Neoplasms genetics, Lung Neoplasms pathology
- Abstract
Objectives: Programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and driver mutations are found in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) and may be suitable targets for specific therapies, but their roles in lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC) of the lung are unclear., Materials and Methods: Sixty-six patients with pulmonary LELCs were investigated. Paraffin-embedded tumor sections were stained with PD-L1 antibody. Tumors with moderate-to-strong membrane staining in ≥5% of tumor cells were positive for PD-L1 overexpression. The presence of driver mutations in the genes for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), KRAS, and BRAF were examined by direct sequencing. Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and ROS1 levels were determined by immunohistochemistry. Correlations of PD-L1 expression and driver mutations with clinicopathologic parameters were analyzed., Results: The overall frequency of PD-L1 overexpression and EGFR mutation was 75.8% and 12.1%, respectively. No KRAS, BRAF, ALK or ROS1 aberrations could be detected. PD-L1 expression was not associated with driver mutations. Multivariate analysis revealed that smoking and advanced stage were independent risk factors for poor overall survival, whereas PD-L1 positivity was not significantly associated with patient outcome., Conclusion: There are high PD-L1 expression and infrequent driver mutations in LELCs compared with conventional NSCLCs. The high expression of PD-L1 in EBV and inflammation associated LELC may provide a rationale for immunotherapy in this subtype of lung cancer., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2015
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