Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
TURK ONKOLOJI DERGISI, cilt.39, sa.2, ss.1-14, 2024 (ESCI, Scopus, TRDizin)
OBJECTIVE
Breast carcinoma is the most common cancer in women, and, in particular, some subtypes are established
as suitable for immunotherapy strategies targeting immune checkpoints. Programmed cell
death-1 (PD-1), as well as cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein-4 (CTLA-4), have an important
role in the tumor microenvironment to escape from the immune system. In this study, we examine the
relationship of PD-L1 expression with survival, recurrence, and other prognostic factors.
METHODS
This retrospective cohort comprised tissue microarray blocks of 391 cases examined at the same institute
between 2000-2012. All cases were completely resected tumors, without neoadjuvant therapy, with
more than 5 years of follow-up. Clinical follow-up and all pathologic parameters were recorded. PD-L1
immunohistochemistry (SP263) was applied, then staining details including density, percentage, and
patterns were noted for tumor areas and immune cells. PD-L1 expression results were analyzed, and its
relationship with prognostic parameters and survival was investigated.
RESULTS
PD-L1 expression was detected in 90 (24.8%) cases: 55 in only TILs, 35 in both tumor and TILs. Statistically,
there was no significant relationship between PD-L1 expression and survival. However, high
histologic grade, high scores in pleomorphism and mitosis, mild stromal reaction, dense immune cell
infiltration, perineural invasion, absence of lymph node metastasis, negativity of ER and PR, HER2 expression,
and high Ki-67 results had a significant relationship with PD-L1 expression.
CONCLUSION
Consistent with literature, our results showed that PD-L1 expression in triple-negative and HER2 overexpressed
types and in the presence of TILs is higher than in other breast cancers.