Clinicopathological values of PD-L1 expression in HER2-positive breast cancer

Sci Rep. 2019 Nov 13;9(1):16662. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-52944-6.

Abstract

Several ongoing clinical trials are investigating the use of immuno-targeting therapy with programmed cell death protein-1 and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors for triple-negative breast cancer. However, the role of PD-L1 expression in HER2-positive breast cancer remains unclear. We investigated the clinicopathological utility of PD-L1 expression in HER2-positive breast cancer. Cohort A included 248 patients with invasive breast cancer (all subtypes). Cohort B included 126 HER2-positive patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) concomitant with trastuzumab. The relationship of PD-L1 expression on the cancer cells with clinicopathological factors including pathological complete response (pCR) and prognosis was investigated. In cohort A, 8.1% patients were PD-L1-positive; PD-L1 positivity showed a correlation with high degree of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), estrogen receptor negativity, progesterone receptor negativity, and high histological grade. In cohort B, 17.5% patients were PD-L1-positive; PD-L1 positivity showed a significant correlation with high degree of TILs and high abundance of CD8-positive TILs. The pCR rates were related to TILs and PD-L1 expression. Among PD-L1-negative patients, high CD8-positive TILs were associated with significantly better prognosis. In conclusion, 17.5% of HER2-positive type patients were PD-L1-positive. PD-L1 expression was associated with response to NAC with trastuzumab in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

MeSH terms

  • Anthracyclines / administration & dosage
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use*
  • B7-H1 Antigen / metabolism*
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism*
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Breast Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Docetaxel / administration & dosage
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic*
  • Humans
  • Neoadjuvant Therapy / mortality*
  • Paclitaxel / administration & dosage
  • Prognosis
  • Receptor, ErbB-2 / metabolism
  • Receptors, Estrogen / metabolism
  • Receptors, Progesterone / metabolism
  • Survival Rate
  • Trastuzumab / administration & dosage

Substances

  • Anthracyclines
  • B7-H1 Antigen
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • CD274 protein, human
  • Receptors, Estrogen
  • Receptors, Progesterone
  • Docetaxel
  • ERBB2 protein, human
  • Receptor, ErbB-2
  • Trastuzumab
  • Paclitaxel