Gut and Liver (Nov 2023)

The Expression of Programmed Death-Ligand 1 on Immune Cells Is Related to a Better Prognosis in Biliary Tract Cancer

  • Sung Chan Kwon,
  • Seungmin Bang,
  • Young Nyun Park,
  • Ji Hoon Park,
  • So Jeong Kim,
  • Jung Hyun Jo,
  • Moon Jae Chung,
  • Jeong Youp Park,
  • Seung Woo Park,
  • Si Young Song,
  • Eunhyang Park,
  • Hee Seung Lee

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5009/gnl220206
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17, no. 6
pp. 933 – 941

Abstract

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Background/Aims: Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in tumor cells is associated with a poor biliary tract cancer (BTC) prognosis; tumor-infiltrating immune cells in the tumor microenvironment are associated with a better prognosis. The effect of PD-L1 expression on immune cells on survival is unclear. We investigated the relationship between PD-L1 expression in immune cells and BTC prognosis. Methods: PD-L1 expression was evaluated using an anti-PD-L1 22C3 mouse monoclonal primary antibody, and its relationships with clinical characteristics and prognosis were analyzed using the Cox proportional hazard model to investigate the prognostic performance of PD-L1 in BTC. Results: Among 144 analyzed cases, patients with positive PD-L1 expression in tumor cells and negative PD-L1 expression in immune cells showed poorer overall survival rates than those exhibiting other expressions (tumor cells: hazard ratio [HR]=1.023, p<0.001; immune cells: HR=0.983, p=0.021). PD-L1 expression in tumor cells was an independent predictor of poor overall survival (HR=1.024, p<0.001). In contrast, PD-L1 expression in immune cells was a predictive marker of good prognosis (HR=0.983, p=0.018). Conclusions: PD-L1 expression in immune cells may be used as an independent factor to evaluate the prognosis of patients with BTC.

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