Abstract
Purpose
Gliomas are characterized by immunosuppressive features. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is overexpressed and plays an important role in the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments of gliomas. However, the radiographical and prognostic significance of PD-L1 expression remains unclear.
Methods
Using tissue microarrays, we evaluated PD-L1 expression and the presence of tumor-infiltrating CD4+ and CD8+T cells and CD204+macrophages using immunohistochemical analysis. Contrast enhancement area and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) hyperintensity area were evaluated by two-dimensional analysis. Kaplan–Meier analysis was performed to evaluate the overall survival time in 44 patients with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-wildtype glioblastoma.
Results
We evaluated 71 patients with newly diagnosed high-grade gliomas who were treated between October 1998 and April 2012. PD-L1 expression was observed in 15 patients (21.1%). A significant association of PD-L1 expression with the CD4+ and CD8+ T cell densities, but not with CD204+ macrophage densities, was observed (p = 0.025, p = 0.0098, and p = 0.19, respectively). The FLAIR-to-enhancement ratio was significantly higher in PD-L1+ tumors than in PD-L1− tumors (p = 0.0037). PD-L1 expression did not show a significant association with the median survival time (PD-L1 + vs. PD-L1−: 19.2 vs 14.9 months; p = 0.39).
Conclusion
PD-L1 expression was associated with CD4+ and CD8+ T cell infiltration, indicating a significant interplay between PD-L1 and immune cells. The positive correlation of PD-L1 expression with an increased FLAIR-to-enhancement ratio suggested that radiographical characteristics could reflect the immunological status. Our results did not support the prognostic impact of PD-L1 in patients with IDH-wildtype glioblastomas.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP16K10776.
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This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI [Grant Number JP16K10776].
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MO, SK, and YN designed the study. MO and SK conducted the statistical analysis. AY and KS contributed to tissue microarray preparation, diagnosis, and data acquisition. MO, YM, MT, SY, YT, and YN contributed to the patients’ management. MO, YM, MT, SY, YT, KI, and YN contributed to sample collection, molecular analysis, data acquisition, and interpretation. MO, KS and YN wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and all authors edited it. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional review board and the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the National Cancer Center (2004–066 or 2007–086).
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Ohno, M., Kitano, S., Satomi, K. et al. Assessment of radiographic and prognostic characteristics of programmed death-ligand 1 expression in high-grade gliomas. J Neurooncol 160, 463–472 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-022-04165-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-022-04165-7