Immune Characterization of the Programmed Death Receptor Pathway in High Risk Prostate Cancer

• Published in: Clinical genitourinary cancer Vol. 15; no. 5; pp. 577 - 581
• Main Authors: Baas, Wesley, MD, Gershburg, Svetlana, Dynda, Danuta, MD, Delfino, Kristin, PhD, Robinson, Kathy, Nie, Daotai, PhD, Yearley, Jennifer Holmes, Alanee, Shaheen, MD, MPH, MBA
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.10.2017
• Subjects: Aged; B7-H1 Antigen - metabolism; Biomarkers, Tumor - metabolism; CD3 Complex - metabolism; Down-Regulation; Expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Hematology, Oncology and Palliative Medicine; High risk; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Immunotherapy; Male; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Grading; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor - metabolism; Prostatectomy; Prostatic neoplasms; Prostatic Neoplasms - immunology; Prostatic Neoplasms - metabolism; Prostatic Neoplasms - pathology; Prostatic Neoplasms - surgery; Retrospective Studies; T-Lymphocytes - immunology; Urology; Immunohistochemistry; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor; Prostatic neoplasms; Prostate; Immunotherapy; High risk; Expression
• ISSN: 1558-7673; 1938-0682
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clgc.2017.04.002

Abstract Purpose PD-1, a T-cell inhibitory receptor, and its ligand PD-L1 have been found to be expressed in many tumor types, and this expression has led to the development of many drugs targeting the PD-1 pathway. The objective of this study was to determine the expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 in high grade prostate cancer tissues, and correlate the expression with disease and patients characteristics. Materials and Methods Immunohistochemistry for PD-1 (CD279), PD-L1 (B7-H1), and CD3 was performed and scored from 0-5 on prostatectomy/biopsy tissue samples taken from 25 men with high grade prostate cancer. Charts were then retrospectively reviewed for numerous patient and disease characteristics. Statistical analyses were done to investigate the association of these patient and disease characteristics with PD-1, PD-L1, and CD3 expression. Results A score of 3-5 on the semiquantitative 0-5 score was deemed "high" expression whereas a score of 0-2 was deemed "low" expression. Of the 25 samples, 2 (8%) scored high for PD-1 expression, 2 (8%) scored high for PD-L1 expression, and 18 (72%) scored high for CD3 expression. There was found to be no statistically significant difference between high and low expression groups of PD-1, PD-L1, or CD3 for any of the variables we collected. Conclusions An overall low expression of PD-1 and PD-L1, and a concurrent high expression of CD3+ T cells was found in high risk prostate cancer tissue. No significant association was found between expression of PD-1, PD-L1, or CD3, and patient or disease characteristics. Because of this, one may be able to question the role of PD-L1 in local immune suppression in prostate cancer.