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Clinical role of serum programmed death ligand 1 in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: Where does it come from?

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Abstract

Purposes

Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is a key target for the treatment of several malignancies. The present study was conducted to clarify the role of serum PD-L1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods

Serum PD-L1 (sPD-L1) was examined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 153 patients with HCC who underwent curative hepatectomy at Kumamoto University in 2011–2016. The expression of PD-L1 in tissue (tPD-L1) was investigated by immunohistochemistry. The clinical roles of the PD-L1 expression in both serum and tissue were examined.

Results

The sPD-L1 was significantly elevated in HCC patients compared to patients without any malignant or inflammatory disease (234 vs. 93 pg/mL, p < 0.0001). The percentage of the tPD-L1-positive area (%tPD-L1) in the background liver was significantly higher than in the tumor (1.52% vs. 0.48%, p < 0.0001). The %tPD-L1 in the background liver but not in the tumor was significantly correlated with the sPD-L1 level (p = 0.0079). The sPD-L1, %tPD-L1 in the tumor, and %tPD-L1 in the background liver were not correlated with the overall survival after surgery.

Conclusion

PD-L1-expressing cells in the background liver, but not in the tumor tissue, appeared to contribute to the sPD-L1 level. The sPD-L1 level may thus not indicate the tumor burden in patients with HCC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Graduate School of Life Science, Kumamoto University, 1-1-1 Honjo, Kumamoto, 860-8556, Japan

    Hatem A. Elmezayen, Hirohisa Okabe, Yoshifumi Baba, Toshihiko Yusa, Rumi Itoyama, Yosuke Nakao, Takanobu Yamao, Naoki Umzaki, Masayo Tsukamoto, Yuki Kitano, Tatsunori Miyata, Kota Arima, Hiromitsu Hayashi, Katsunori Imai, Akira Chikamoto, Yo-ichi Yamashita & Hideo Baba

  2. Department of Chemistry, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt

    Hatem A. Elmezayen

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  1. Hatem A. Elmezayen
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  2. Hirohisa Okabe
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Correspondence to Hideo Baba.

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Elmezayen, H.A., Okabe, H., Baba, Y. et al. Clinical role of serum programmed death ligand 1 in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: Where does it come from?. Surg Today 50, 569–576 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-019-01920-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-019-01920-8

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