Comparison of PD-L1 detection methods, platforms and reagents in bladder cancer.

In this retrospective study, we collected 282 bladder cancer patients diagnosed from 2011 to 2018. Two mechanisms, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC), were used to detect programmed death molecule ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, and these analyses were performed on different platforms using different antibodies (22C3, 28-8, and SP263). The results were compared, and related clinical parameters were analysed to explore the consistencies and correlations between different detection methods, clonal antibodies and platforms for the detection of PD-L1 in bladder cancer patients to more effectively identify patients who are suitable for immunotherapy. The rate of PD-L1 positivity with 28-8 (42.3 %) was higher than that with 22C3 (22.1 %) or SP263 (22.1 %). The rate of PD-L1 positivity with SP263 was consistent with that of 22C3, and patients with positive PD-L1 expression detected by SP263 had longer overall survival in clinical parameter analysis. However, the rate of PD-L1 positivity with FISH was only 2.10 %, and the rate of agreement between FISH and IHC was only 1.06 %. In conclusion, the detection of PD-L1 with SP263 and IHC was more consistent and had a higher prognostic value, providing guidance for clinical diagnosis and treatment. The clinical application of FISH for PD-L1 detection needs to be further explored.

Distinct roles of programmed death ligand 1 alternative splicing isoforms in colorectal cancer.

Although anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) immunotherapy has achieved great success in some cancers, most colorectal cancer (CRC) patients remain unresponsive. Therefore, further clarification of the underlying mechanisms is needed to improve the therapy. In this study, we explored the distinct functions of different PD-L1 alternative splicing isoforms in CRC. We investigated the biological functions in PD-L1 knocked down/knockout cells, which were verified through overexpression of PD-L1 isoforms a, b, and c. The roles of PD-L1 isoforms in immune surveillance resistance was also analyzed. Meanwhile, we performed RNA-seq to screen the downstream molecules regulated by PD-L1 isoforms. Finally, we detected PD-L1 and PD-L1 isoforms levels in a cohort of serum samples, two cohorts of CRC tissue samples, and analyzed the correlation of PD-L1 isoforms with PD-1 blockade therapy response in two clinical CRC cases. The results indicated that PD-L1 knockout inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion, and isoform b exerted a more significant inhibitory effect on T cells than the other two isoforms. Moreover, isoform c could promote CRC progression through regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Clinical data showed that CRC patients with positive PD-L1 expression were associated with poorer overall survival. High serum PD-L1 level was associated with poor prognosis. The level of isoform b or c was negatively associated with prognosis, and a higher level of isoform b was associated with a good response to anti-PD-1 therapy. In conclusion, isoform b should be considered as a biomarker for clinical responsiveness to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy; isoform c had a prometastatic role and is a new potential target for CRC therapy.

The expression of SP263 in muscle invasive bladder carcinoma and its relationship with clinicopathological features.

Context: The expression of programmed cell death ligand1 (PDL1) is a research hotspot of immunotherapy. The treatment targeted for its expression has shown effectiveness in many tumors. Objective: The aim of the study was to determine PD-L1 expression in urothelial carcinoma (UC) and to compare the PD-L1 expression in muscle invasive bladder carcinoma (MIBC) and upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). The predictive value of CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) density for the diagnosis of PD-L1 positivity and the association between CD8+ TIL density and prognosis in MIBC were also explored. Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining for PD-L1 (SP263), CK5/6, CK20, CD44, and p53 was carried out using a 3D Histech digital scanner to scan and determine CD8+ TIL density. Results: 122 patients received radical cystectomy, and the overall PD-L1 positivity was 34.43% (42/122). PD-L1 positivity in whole sections was higher than in tissue micro-array (TMA) (all P < 0.05). If multiple lesions were detected simultaneously, the number of patients with positive results increased from 42 to 49. The areas under the curve (AUCs) of CD8+ TIL density for the diagnosis of PD-L1 positivity were 0.739, 0.713, and 0.826. Univariate cox regression analysis demonstrated that high CD8+ TIL density and CD8highPDL1+ were protective factors of overall survival (OS), and multivariate cox analyses showed that only CD8+ TIL density was an independent prognostic factor for OS. For UTUC, the overall PD-L1 expression was 40.0% (16/40). Conclusions: Our study results emphasize the importance of detecting PD-L1 expression in multiple tumor lesions from the same patient. In MIBC, CD8+ TIL density could be used as a prognostic marker for predicting the status of PD-L1 expression.

Study on Molecular Information Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment of Bladder Cancer on Pathological Tissue Image.

Background: Molecular information about bladder cancer is significant for treatment and prognosis. The immunohistochemistry (IHC) method is widely used to analyze the specific biomarkers to determine molecular subtypes. However, procedures in IHC and plenty of reagents are time and labor-consuming and expensive. This study established a computer-aid diagnosis system for predicting molecular subtypes, p53 status, and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) status of bladder cancer with pathological images. Materials and Methods: We collected 119 muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) patients who underwent radical cystectomy from January 2016 to September 2018. All the pathological sections are scanned into digital whole slide images (WSIs), and the IHC results of adjacent sections were recorded as the label of the corresponding slide. The tumor areas are first segmented, then molecular subtypes, p53 status, and PD-L1 status of those tumor-positive areas would be identified by three independent convolutional neural networks (CNNs). We measured the performance of this system for predicting molecular subtypes, p53 status, and PD-L1 status of bladder cancer with accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. Results: For the recognition of molecular subtypes, the accuracy is 0.94, the sensitivity is 1.00, and the specificity is 0.909. For PD-L1 status recognition, the accuracy is 0.897, the sensitivity is 0.875, and the specificity is 0.913. For p53 status recognition, the accuracy is 0.846, the sensitivity is 0.857, and the specificity is 0.750. Conclusion: Our computer-aided diagnosis system can provide a novel and simple assistant tool to obtain the molecular subtype, PD-L1 status, and p53 status. It can reduce the workload of pathologists and the medical cost.

Additively protective effects of vitamin D and calcium against colorectal adenoma incidence, malignant transformation and progression: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) exhibits a linear progression from normal colonic epithelium, adenoma initiation, carcinoma transformation and even to metastasis. Diet changes might influence carcinogenesis and prognosis. We aimed to determine the effects of vitamin D and calcium on colorectal adenoma incidence, malignancy development and prognosis. METHODS: Systematic literature searches (PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases) and hand searches were performed by September 30, 2019. A random-effects model was adopted to pool relative ratios (RRs) for colorectal tumour incidence or hazard ratios (HRs) for CRC mortality. Stratified analyses were performed by gender, tumour location, calcium intake level and ethnic group. RESULTS: Total 854,195 cases from 166 studies were included. The colorectal adenoma incidence was inversely correlated with the circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] level (RR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.71-0.89), vitamin D intake (RR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.82-0.92) and calcium intake (RR: 0.86, 95% CI: 0.81-0.91). The CRC incidence was decreased by circulating 25(OH)D (RR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.59-0.77), vitamin D intake (RR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.78-0.93) and calcium intake (RR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.70-0.79). High-level circulating 25(OH)D triggered better overall survival (HR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.57-0.79) and CRC-specific survival (HR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.53-0.74). Stratified analyses showed that vitamin D and calcium significantly suppressed colorectal tumour incidence among women. Left-sided CRC risk was reversely related to circulating 25(OH)D (RR: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.41-0.88) and vitamin D intake (RR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.57-0.93). Circulating 25(OH)D decreased colorectal adenoma (RR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.48-0.82) and CRC (RR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.56-0.86) risk in populations with higher calcium intake. European and American populations benefited more from vitamin D intake against colorectal tumour. A significant dose-response relationship was observed between intake of vitamin D or calcium and colorectal tumour incidence. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D and calcium play additively chemopreventive roles in colorectal adenoma incidence, malignant transformation and progression, especially for women and left-sided CRC patients.