Prevalence and prognostic value of the programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression among tumor samples from cervical cancer patients

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in a cohort of cervical cancer (CC) patients evaluating its prognostic significance. Methods: All patients diagnosed at Brazilian National Cancer Institute (INCA), in 2011, with invasive CC, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) or adenocarcinoma (ADC) were retrospectively included. Clinical and treatment data were collected and PD-L1 expression was evaluated according to the percentage of viable tumor cells showing staining. The survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan Meier method. Results: In total, 152 patients (105 SSC and 47 ADC) were included and the mean age was 52.4 years (±14.4). According to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) 2009, 84.2% had locally advanced disease (IB2-IVA). PD-L1 expression was considered positive (=1%) in 53.3% of the cases. After adjustment, the multivariable analysis confirmed that SCC (p=0.026) and tumor size >4cm (p=0.023) were independently associated with PD-L1 expression. There were no significant differences in disease-free survival (DFS), disease-specific survival (DSS) and overall survival (OS) comparing the subgroups with distinct PD-L1 expression. Conclusion: In this cohort, PD-L1 expression was not associated with DFS, DSS and OS.