Impact of Neoadjuvant Therapy on PD-L1 Expression in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer and Correlation with Clinicopathological Factors

Abstract

Background: This study aims to deliver more insights on the impact of neoadjuvant treatment on Pd-L1 expression and to evaluate its correlation with clinicopathological factors. Methods: We reviewed 88 TNBC cases for the period 2021–2023. Data on age, tumor size, stage, and treatment were collected. Histological slides were assessed for subtype, grade, and TILs. A total of 48 received neoadjuvant treatment. HER2 and Ki67 were evaluated via immunohistochemistry. PD-L1 expression was tested on primary and residual tumors. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS (p < 0.05). Results: In this study, PD-L1 positive expression was found in 44.3% of primary tumors, with 52.9% of initially positive cases losing expression post-treatment. TILs were significantly higher in PD-L1-positive tumors (mean 41.79% vs. 27.55%, p = 0.001). A notable correlation was found between PD-L1 expression and Ki-67 proliferation index, with PD-L1-positive tumors having a median Ki-67 of 64.49 compared to 52.86 in negative cases (p = 0.015). Neoadjuvant immunotherapy led to a lower mean residual cancer burden (0.95 vs. 2.55, p = 0.002) compared to chemotherapy alone. Higher Ki-67 levels (≥50%) were associated with better treatment outcomes, showing a mean RCB score of 1.60 versus 3.16 for lower levels (p = 0.022). HER2-negative cases had a higher prevalence of favorable pathological response (54.5%) compared to HER2-low tumors (25%, p = 0.048), because of the strong correlation to high proliferative index. Conclusions: In conclusion, PD-L1 expression in TNBC shows significant discordance post-treatment, highlighting the need for routine testing and further research on predictive biomarkers.