Prognostic significance of PD-L1 expression on circulating tumor cells in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Ann Oncol
; 28(8): 1923-1933, 2017 Aug 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28838214
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Successful application of programmed death 1 (PD1) checkpoint inhibitors in the clinic may ultimately benefit from appropriate patient selection based upon predictive biomarkers. Molecular characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTC) is crucial for the investigation of molecular-targeted therapies while predictive biomarkers for response to PD1 checkpoint inhibitors are lacking. We sought to assess whether overexpression of PD-L1 in CTCs could be detected at baseline and at different timepoints during treatment in a prospective cohort of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients and used to predict clinical outcome after treatment with curative intent. PATIENTS ANDMETHODS:
We developed a highly sensitive, specific and robust RT-qPCR assay for PD-L1 mRNA expression in EpCAM(+) CTCs. In a prospective cohort of 113 locally advanced HNSCC patients treated with curative intent we evaluated PD-L1 expression in the EpCAM(+) CTC fraction at baseline, after 2 cycles of induction chemotherapy (week 6) and at the end of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (week 15).RESULTS:
PD-L1 overexpression was found in 24/94 (25.5%) patients at baseline, 8/34 (23.5%) after induction chemotherapy and 12/54 (22.2%) patients at the end of treatment. Patients with CTCs overexpressing PD-L1 at end of treatment had shorter progression-free survival (P = 0.001) and overall survival (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that PD-L1 overexpression at end of treatment was independent prognostic factor for progression-free survival and overall survival. The absence of PD-L1 overexpression at the end of treatment was strongly associated with complete response with an odds ratio = 16.00 (95% CI = 2.76-92.72, P = 0.002).CONCLUSIONS:
We demonstrate that detection of CTCs overexpressing PD-L1 is feasible and may provide important prognostic information in HNSCC. Our results suggest that adjuvant PD1 inhibitors deserve evaluation in HNSCC patients in whom PD-L1(+) CTCs are detected at the end of curative treatment.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
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Bases de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Carcinoma de Células Escamosas
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Antígeno B7-H1
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Neoplasias de Cabeça e Pescoço
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Células Neoplásicas Circulantes
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Aged
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Ann Oncol
Assunto da revista:
NEOPLASIAS
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article