1. Assessment of programmed death-ligand 1 expression and tumor-associated immune cells in pediatric cancer tissues
- Author
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Birgit Geoerger, Virginie Marty, Melinda S. Merchant, Bruce R. Pawel, Mariarita Santi, Daniel Martinez, Mads Daugaard, Crystal L. Mackall, Poul H Sorensen, Imene Hezam, Phillippe Vielh, Jason S. Simon, Robbie G. Majzner, Joseph F. Grosso, and John M. Maris
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Cancer Research ,Tumor microenvironment ,Pathology ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Tissue microarray ,business.industry ,Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Immunotherapy ,medicine.disease ,Pediatric cancer ,Lymphoma ,03 medical and health sciences ,030104 developmental biology ,0302 clinical medicine ,Immune system ,Oncology ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Neuroblastoma ,Cancer research ,Medicine ,business - Abstract
BACKGROUND Programmed death 1 (PD-1) signaling in the tumor microenvironment dampens immune responses to cancer, and blocking this axis induces antitumor effects in several malignancies. Clinical studies of PD-1 blockade are only now being initiated in pediatric patients, and little is known regarding programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in common childhood cancers. The authors characterized PD-L1 expression and tumor-associated immune cells (TAICs) (lymphocytes and macrophages) in common pediatric cancers. METHODS Whole slide sections and tissue microarrays were evaluated by immunohistochemistry for PD-L1 expression and for the presence of TAICs. TAICs were also screened for PD-L1 expression. RESULTS Thirty-nine of 451 evaluable tumors (9%) expressed PD-L1 in at least 1% of tumor cells. The highest frequency histotypes comprised Burkitt lymphoma (80%; 8 of 10 tumors), glioblastoma multiforme (36%; 5 of 14 tumors), and neuroblastoma (14%; 17 of 118 tumors). PD-L1 staining was associated with inferior survival among patients with neuroblastoma (P = .004). Seventy-four percent of tumors contained lymphocytes and/or macrophages. Macrophages were significantly more likely to be identified in PD-L1–positive versus PD-L1–negative tumors (P
- Published
- 2017