Comparison of programmed death‐ligand 1 expression in adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix in paraffin blocks of patients with cervical cancer

Abstract

Abstract Aims Cervical cancer (CC) is a common malignancy in women, predominantly caused by human papillomavirus. The most subtypes are adenocarcinomas (AC) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), which show various features and treatment responses. Programmed death‐ligand 1 (PD‐L1) and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD‐1) as Immune checkpoint molecules, play a role in immune evasion. We investigated PD‐L1 expression in AC and SCC of the cervix and explored its link to clinical characteristics. Methods and results The present cross‐sectional research was done between 2016 and 2022 on samples in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences‐affiliated hospitals in Iran. Histological tissue samples of CCs (16 AC and 48 SCC) were assessed, and clinical information was obtained by reviewing their medical documents. PD‐L1 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and we used the combined positive score. SCC cases showed a higher (not significant) PD‐L1 expression. The PD‐L1 expression and clinical characteristics were not significantly correlated in both subgroups. Conclusion Although SCC cases exhibited higher PD‐L1 expression, this difference was non‐significant. More investigations should highlight the role of PD‐L1 in CC and the potential benefits of immunotherapy.

Keywords

• adenocarcinoma
• cervical cancer
• immunohistochemistry
• PD‐1
• PD‐L1
• protein expression