PD-L1 expression and its correlation with tumor biomarkers in Chinese urothelial bladder cancer

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 16753 - 11
• Main Authors: Fan, Yu, Dai, Tao, Zhang, Dahong, Guo, Hongqian, Zhou, Fangjian, Shi, Benkang, Wang, Shaogang, Ji, Zhigang, Wang, Chunxi, Yao, Xudong, Wei, Qiang, Chen, Nanhui, Xing, Jinchun, Yang, Jinjian, Kong, Chuize, Huang, Jian, Ye, Dingwei, Zhou, Liqun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 20.07.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/67; 692/4025; 692/4028; 692/53; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Apoptosis; B7-H1 Antigen - genetics; B7-H1 Antigen - metabolism; Biomarkers; Biomarkers, Tumor - genetics; Biomarkers, Tumor - metabolism; Bladder cancer; CD8 antigen; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - immunology; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - metabolism; China - epidemiology; East Asian People - genetics; Female; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Immune cells; Immunotherapy; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Male; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Muscle-invasive urothelial bladder cancer; Mutation; PD-L1 protein; Prevalence of PD-L1 expression; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Tumor biomarkers; Tumor cells; Tumor mutation burden; Tumors; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms - genetics; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms - metabolism; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms - pathology; Urothelial cancer; China; Prevalence of PD-L1 expression; Immune cells; Tumor cells; Muscle-invasive urothelial bladder cancer; Tumor biomarkers; Tumor mutation burden
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-67508-6

Data on prevalence of programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression and its correlation with tumor biomarkers in Chinese patients with muscle-invasive urothelial bladder cancer (MIUBC) are scarce. We investigated the prevalence of PD-L1 expression, PD-L1 expression in tumor cells (TC) and immune cells (IC), and its correlation with tumor biomarkers (CD8+ T cells and tumor mutation burden [TMB]) in Chinese patients with newly diagnosed MIUBC (NCT03433924). Of 248 patients enrolled, 229 with PD-L1 data available were analysed. High PD-L1 expression (≥ 25% of TC or IC with PD-L1 expression) was observed in 120 (52.4%) patients. 59 cases showed positive staining in ≥ 25% of TC, and 82 cases had positive staining in ≥ 25% of IC. High expression of CD8+ T cell and TMB (> 10 mutations/megabase) was observed in 44.5% and 54.1% patients, respectively. A positive correlation was observed between percentage of TC with membrane PD-L1 positivity and CD8+ T cells (0.34; P  < 0.001) and between IC with membrane PD-L1 positivity and CD8+ T cells (0.44; P  < 0.001). There is high prevalence of PD-L1 expression in Chinese patients with MIUBC, suggesting that a sizable subset of patients could benefit from immunotherapy. The correlation of PD-L1 expression with tumor biomarkers provide clues for mechanisms underlying the effects of biomarkers for predicting efficacy.