PD-L1 Expression and Tumor-infiltrating Lymphocytes in Breast Cancer: Clinicopathological Analysis in Women Younger than 40 Years Old

Abstract

Background/Aim: To evaluate the association between programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression on both tumor cells (TC) and inflammatory cells (IC), tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), CD3 + and CD8 + lymphocytes and other clinicopathological parameters in primary infiltrative breast cancer (IBC) of young women, a population shown to have a worse prognosis. Materials andMethods: A retrospective study was performed collecting data from patients younger than 40 years old. Forty-five young women with IBC were included. Whole tissue sections were used to evaluate all parameters. Results: Twenty percent (20%) of cases showed PD-L1 expression by tumor cells (PDL1TC) and 44.4% showed PD-L1 expression by immune cells (PDL1IC). Furthermore, 28.88% revealed high stromal TILs. PDL1TC and PDL1IC expression were significantly associated with tumor diameter and expression of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors and Ki67. PDL1TC expression was also associated with grade. High TILs were associated with tumor diameter, ER and Ki67 expression. PDL1TC, PDL1IC expression and TILs were associated with the density of CD3 + and CD8 + lymphocytes. Conclusion: Our results are similar to those of other age groups, as reported in the literature.

Programmed Death-Ligand 1 Expression in Breast Cancer Patients: Clinicopathological Associations from a Single-Institution Study

“…Other studies showed a similar rate of PD-L1 positivity in patients with primary invasive breast cancer. 43 , 44 Alternatively, Ali et al showed that PD-L1 expression was detectable in 1.7% of breast tumor cells and was mostly expressed in basal-like tumors. 45 In another study, only 4.1% of the invasive ductal carcinomas were PD-L1-positive.…”

“… 24 Other studies showed that intratumoral PD-L1 expression was significantly associated with the expression of hormone receptors and Ki-67. 43 , 52 In a study by Qin et al, factors that were more likely associated with high PD-L1 expression in Chinese breast cancer patients included age younger than 35 years, advanced stage, larger tumor size, and LVI. 44 In line with this, Parvathareddy et al showed that PD-L1 expression was associated with younger age, advanced grade, hormone receptors negativity, and triple-negative subtype in Middle Eastern breast cancer patients.…”

Prognostic Role of PD-L1 Expression in Invasive Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…A total of 22 articles were included in this study [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. Most of the studies were retrospective, and the follow-up interval varied from 3 months to 15 years.…”

Bevacizumab Plays a double-edged role in Neoadjuvant Therapy for Non-metastatic Breast Cancer: A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Immune system blends with every step of tumor progression, and cancer immune therapy have made drastically progress in past several years. As a highly immune infiltrated malignancy neoplasm 47 , 51 , breast cancer is promised beautiful landscape by immunotherapy 52 . Immune gene signature is one of independent response predictors associating with Bev-containing regimen, making immune combining with vascular-targeted a hopeful therapy for BC.…”