Immunohistochemical detection of stem cell markers, transcription factors and PD-L1 in malignant gliomas in adults patients

Abstract

The prognosis of glioblastoma (GLB) is poor: the 5-year survival rate is less than 10%. Almost all patients relapse after surgery according to the standard of treatment: resection, radiation therapy, and temozolomide. T reatment options today for relapse are limited, and no amount of therapy prolongs patients' lives. The development of resistance to therapy is associated with the microenvironment and tumor stem cells. Objective: to study the expression of stem cell markers, transcription factors and PD-L1 in malignant gliomas. A retrospective study included 17 patients with high-grade gliomas who underwent surgery. All patients underwent traditional histological examination, immunohistochemical analysis with antibodies to IDH1R132H, BRAF V600E, Ki-67, GFAP, NANOG, Nestin, CD133, SALL4, OCT4, SOX2, CD38, PD-L1, FOXM1, morphometric analysis with calculation of the average ratio cells with antigen expression to the number of all tumor cells. Expression of NANOG was observed in 47% of cases, Nestin - in 88%, CD133 - in 71%, SOX2 - in 100%, CD38 and FOXM1 - in 65%. None of the tumors expressed SALL4, only one OCT4. PD-L1 expression was detected only in 2 cases. Correlation analysis established the presence of significant associations between the expression of Nestin and CD133; FOXM1 and NANOG; Nestin and CD38; Ki-67 and SOX2. The presence of expression of stem cell markers and transcription factors NANOG, Nestin, CD133, CD38, SOX2, FOXM1 in malignant gliomas, in our opinion, dictates further targeted study of these markers on a larger sample and opens up new potential targets for targeted therapy.