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International Journal of Clinical Oncology

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01-10-2016 | Original Article

Implication of programmed cell death ligand 1 expression in tumor recurrence and prognosis in rectal cancer with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy

Authors: Susumu Saigusa, Yuji Toiyama, Koji Tanaka, Yasuhiro Inoue, Koichiro Mori, Shozo Ide, Hiroki Imaoka, Mikio Kawamura, Yasuhiko Mohri, Masato Kusunoki

Published in: International Journal of Clinical Oncology | Issue 5/2016

Abstract

Background

Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) regulates immune responses through interaction with its receptor. PD-L1 is not only a predictor of poor prognosis but also a new therapeutic target in several malignancies. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is an effective tool for local control of rectal cancer, but the disease recurrence rate remains high. The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the correlation between PD-L1 expression and clinicopathological variables in rectal cancer after neoadjuvant CRT.

Materials and methods

A total of 90 rectal cancer patients who underwent neoadjuvant CRT were enrolled in this study. We evaluated PD-L1 expression using immunohistochemistry. Moreover, we investigated the correlation between PD-L1 expression and tumor-infiltrating T cells, and between CD8- and Foxp3-positive cells.

Results

Patients with high PD-L1 expression more frequently had vascular invasion and tumor recurrence compared to patients with low PD-L1 expression (P = 0.0225 and P = 0.0051). High PD-L1 expression was significantly associated with poor recurrence-free and overall survival (P = 0.0027 and P = 0.0357). Multivariate analysis revealed lymph node metastasis and high PD-L1 expression as independent risk factors for tumor recurrence (P = 0.0102 and P = 0.0374). Numbers of infiltrating CD8-positive cells in patients with high PD-L1 expression were significantly lower than in patients with low PD-L1 expression (P = 0.0322).

Conclusion

Our data suggest that inhibition of PD-L1 may be a new immunotherapeutic strategy to reduce tumor recurrence and improve prognosis in patients with rectal cancer after neoadjuvant CRT.

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Title: Implication of programmed cell death ligand 1 expression in tumor recurrence and prognosis in rectal cancer with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy
Authors: Susumu Saigusa
Yuji Toiyama
Koji Tanaka
Yasuhiro Inoue
Koichiro Mori
Shozo Ide
Hiroki Imaoka
Mikio Kawamura
Yasuhiko Mohri
Masato Kusunoki
Publication date: 01-10-2016
Publisher: Springer Japan
Published in: International Journal of Clinical Oncology / Issue 5/2016
Print ISSN: 1341-9625
Electronic ISSN: 1437-7772
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-016-0962-4

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Abstract

Background

Materials and methods

Results

Conclusion

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