RESUMO
The programmed cell death 1/programmed cell death ligands (PD-1/PD-Ls) axis is a potential immune escape mechanism of cancers. However, data on the PD-1/PD-Ls pathway in EBV-associated extranodal natural killer/T cell lymphoma (ENKTL) and its clinical implication are limited. Herein, we characterized PD-1/PD-L expression and its prognosis relevance in 49 ENKTL patients in Thailand. PD-L1 was expressed frequently on both lymphoma cells (61.2%) and stroma (77.5%), whereas PD-L2 expression was more common on lymphoma (63.2%) than stromal cells. PD-1 was positive in 20.5% of stroma, but undetectable on lymphoma cells. There was no association between baseline clinical characteristics and the expression PD-1/PD-Ls. The survival of patients with PD-Ls on tumor cells was poor. For PD-L1-positive versus negative cases, the 2-year event-free survival (EFS) was 42.2 versus 71.8% (p = 0.03) and 2-year overall survival (OS) was 45.4 versus 78.9% (p = 0.02), respectively. Comparing between patients with PD-L2-positive and PD-L2-negative lymphoma, the 2-year EFS was 37.1 versus 82.4% (p = 0.02) and 2-year OS was 45.2 versus 82.4% (p = 0.03), respectively. Neither PD-1 nor PD-Ls expression in the stroma predicted outcomes. In conclusion, PD-Ls were frequently expressed on ENKTL cells and associated with inferior outcomes. Therefore, PD-Ls are potential prognostic biomarkers and the roles of immune checkpoint blockade therapy in ENKTL deserve further investigation.
Assuntos
Antígeno B7-H1/metabolismo , Linfoma Extranodal de Células T-NK/diagnóstico , Proteína 2 Ligante de Morte Celular Programada 1/metabolismo , Receptor de Morte Celular Programada 1/metabolismo , Adulto , Antineoplásicos/uso terapêutico , Biomarcadores Tumorais/metabolismo , DNA Viral/sangue , Feminino , Herpesvirus Humano 4/genética , Humanos , Linfoma Extranodal de Células T-NK/tratamento farmacológico , Linfoma Extranodal de Células T-NK/mortalidade , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Prognóstico , Intervalo Livre de Progressão , Modelos de Riscos Proporcionais , Taxa de Sobrevida , Resultado do TratamentoRESUMO
Follicular lymphoma is characterized by chromosomal translocation involving BCL2 and immunoglobulin heavy chain genes (IgH). That the incidence of follicular lymphoma and the previously reported frequency of BCL2 translocation are lower in Asians than in Caucasians implies a different molecular pathology. The study of BCL2 rearrangement will yield deeper insights into the pathogenesis of follicular lymphomas and into clinical applications of molecular diagnosis for Asian follicular lymphoma patients. BCL2 /IgH translocation was analyzed in paraffin-embedded tissues from follicular lymphoma patients by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of the major breakpoint region (MBR), the intermediate cluster region (ICR), and the minor cluster region. In addition, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis with split-signal BCL2 probes was performed. PCR analysis revealed BCL2 rearrangement in 12 (23.5%) of 51 cases (10 MBR and 2 ICR breakpoints). This frequency is lower than the frequencies reported from Western countries (40%-60%). DNA sequencing of the breakpoints revealed nucleotide insertions suggesting V(D)J recombination-mediated mechanisms. On the other hand, FISH analysis revealed 11 (84.6%) of 13 cases with positive signals for BCL2 translocation. Our results suggest that BCL2 translocation is essential for the pathogenesis of follicular lymphoma in Thai patients. In addition, the data demonstrate the low sensitivity of the PCR for diagnostic testing and suggest that split-signal FISH is the method of choice.