A comparative study to assess the increased expression of programmed cell death-1 (PD1) and programmed cell death- ligand-1 (PDL1) in oral potentially malignant disorders and oral squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) is expressed on the surface of activated T cells, while its ligand, PD-L1, is expressed on the surface of dendritic cells or macrophages. Objective: This study assessed the increased expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 antibodies in oral potentially malignant disorders and oral squamous cell carcinoma. Materials and Methods: The participants were divided into three groups and were further subjected to tissue sample collection only after obtaining written consent. The expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 was measured based on microscopic analysis done in the laboratory. Results: In group 1, 81.8% showed intermediate expression PD-L1 levels while in group 2, 77.3% of the candidates showed high expression PD-L1 and 22.7% showed intermediate PD-L1 expression. In group 3, 72.7% of the candidates showed high PD-L1 expression and 27.3% showed intermediate PD-L1 expression. Around 16.7% of oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) cases and 75% of leukoplakia cases showed high PD-1 expression. Around 75% of OSMF and 100% of leukoplakia cases showed high PD-L1 expression. Conclusion: Immunomodulatory monoclonal antibodies target PD-1/PD-L1 pathway, and show promising results in clinical trials of several cancers.

Keywords

• oral cancer
• precancerous conditions
• programmed cell death-ligand 1
• programmed cell death-1