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Comparison of PD-L1 and VISTA expression status in primary and recurrent/refractory tissue after (chemo)radiotherapy in head and neck cancer

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Abstract

Background

PD-L1 and VISTA are thought to play a role in escape from the immune system, tumor progression, and treatment response in tumoral tissue. The current study aimed to evaluate the effects of radiotherapy (RT) and chemoradiotherapy (CRT) on PD-L1 and VISTA expression in head and neck cancers.

Methods

PD-L1 and VISTA expression were compared between the primary biopsy taken at the time of diagnosis and refractory tissue biopsies of patients who received definitive CRT or recurrent tissue biopsies of patients who had surgery followed by adjuvant RT or CRT.

Results

In total, 47 patients were included. Radiotherapy had no effect on the expression levels of PD-L1 and VISTA in patients with head and neck cancer (p = 0.542 and p = 0.425, respectively). A positive correlation was found between PD-L1 and VISTA expression (p < 0.001; r = 0.560). PD-L1 and VISTA expression in the first biopsy were found to be significantly higher in clinical lymph node-positive patients compared to node-negative patients (PD-L1 p = 0.038; VISTA p = 0.018). The median overall survival of patients with ≥ 1% VISTA expression in the initial biopsy was significantly shorter than that of patients with < 1% VISTA expression (52.4 vs. 110.1 months, respectively; p = 0.048).

Conclusion

It was found that PD-L1 and VISTA expression did not change with RT or CRT. Further studies are needed to evaluate the relationship of PD-L1 and VISTA expression with RT and CRT.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Gazi University Projects of Scientific Investigation.

Funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work. This study was carried out as part of the Project Support program of the Gazi University Projects of Scientific Investigation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey

    Görkem Yazıcı Şener

  2. Department of Medical Oncology, School of Medicine, Gazi University, Besevler/Ankara, Turkey

    Osman Sütcüoğlu MD, Nuriye Özdemir, Ahmet Özet & Ozan Yazıcı

  3. Department of Pathology, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey

    Betül Öğüt

  4. Department of Medical Oncology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Deniz Can Güven & Sercan Aksoy

  5. Department of Pathology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Altan Kavuncuoğlu, Yeşim Gaye Güler Tezel & Nalan Akyürek

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  1. Görkem Yazıcı Şener
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Contributions

All authors contributed to study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Görkem Yazıcı Şener, Osman Sütcüoğlu, Betül Öğüt, Nalan Akyürek, and Ozan Yazıcı. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Osman Sütcüoğlu, Görkem Yazıcı Şener, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Osman Sütcüoğlu MD.

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Conflict of interest

G.Y. Şener, O. Sütcüoğlu, B. Öğüt, D.C. Güven, A. Kavuncuoğlu, N. Özdemir, A. Özet, S. Aksoy, Y.G.G. Tezel, N. Akyürek, and O. Yazıcı declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical standards

Ethical approval was waived by the Ethics Committee of Gazi University in view of the retrospective nature of the study and all the procedures performed were part of the routine care.

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Availability of data and material

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed in the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Appendix

Appendix

 

Table 4 PD-L1 and VISTA expression according to lymph node status
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Table 5 PD-L1 and VISTA expression according to archival period
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Table 6 PD-L1 and VISTA change by treatment group
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Table 7 Treatments applied at the time of diagnosis
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Fig. 4
figure 4

Microscopic view of PD-L1 expression change before and after treatment. PD-L1 expression before therapy (a, b, c) and after therapy (d, e, f). Decreased expression of PD-L1 with treatment; the patient’s pretreatment PD-L1 score was 3 (a) and posttreatment PD-L1 score was 0 (d). Increased expression of PD-L1 with treatment; the patient’s pretreatment PD-L1 score was 0 (b) and the posttreatment PD-L1 score was 2 (e). The group with no change in PD-L1 expression; PD-L1 score before and after treatment 2 (c, f). PD-L1 programmed death-ligand 1

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Fig. 5
figure 5

Microscopic view of VISTA expression change before and after treatment. VISTA expression levels before therapy (a, b, c) and after therapy (d, e, f). Increase in VISTA expression with treatment; the patient had a pretreatment VISTA score of 0 (a) and a posttreatment VISTA score of 2 (d). Group with no change in VISTA expression; the patient had a pretreatment VISTA score of 2 (b) and a posttreatment VISTA score of 2 (e). Decreased VISTA expression; the patient with a VISTA score of 2 (c) has a VISTA score of 0 (f) after treatment. VISTA V-domain Ig suppressor of T cell activation

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Fig. 6
figure 6

Second biopsy PD-L1 expression and overall survival. PD-L1 programmed death-ligand 1

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Fig. 7
figure 7

Second biopsy VISTA expression and overall survival. VISTA V-domain Ig suppressor of T cell activation

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Şener, G.Y., Sütcüoğlu, O., Öğüt, B. et al. Comparison of PD-L1 and VISTA expression status in primary and recurrent/refractory tissue after (chemo)radiotherapy in head and neck cancer. Strahlenther Onkol 199, 761–772 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00066-023-02053-1

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