Maxillofac Plast Reconstr Surg.  2019 ;41(1):56. 10.1186/s40902-019-0239-8.

PD-L1 expression correlated with p53 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma

• Tojyo I
• Shintani Y
• Nakanishi
• Okamoto K
• Hiraishi Y
• Fujita S
• Enaka M
• Sato F
• Muragaki Y

• KMID: 2469003
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1186/s40902-019-0239-8

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is an immune checkpoint molecule that attenuates the immune response. PD-L1 contributes to failed antitumor immunity; thereby, blockade of PD-L1 with monoclonal antibody enhances the immune response. Recently, it was reported that PD-L1 was regulated by protein 53 (p53). Besides, cytokeratin 17 (CK17) is thought to be a diagnostic marker of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Our aim was to evaluate the correlation between the immunohistochemical expression of PD-L1, p53 and CK17 with clinicopathological characteristics and disease-specific survival in patients with OSCC.
METHODS
A total of 48 patients with OSCC were included in this study. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to evaluate the correlation among the expressions of PD-L1, p53 and CK17, and furthermore the correlation among various clinicopathological factors, PD-L1, p53 and CK17.
RESULTS
The positive rate of p53, CK17, PD-L1 (tumor cells) and PD-L1 (tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes) was 63.2%, 91.7%, 48.9% and 57.1%. A statistically significant correlation between p53 expression and T stage and TNM stage (p = 0.049, p = 0.03, respectively) was observed. Also, a statistically significant correlation between p53 and PD-L1 (TCs) expression (p = 0.0009) was observed. Five-year disease-specific survival rate was not significantly correlated with gender, TNM stage, p53 expression, PD-L1 expression and CK17 expression.
CONCLUSION
The expression of p53 and PD-L1 shows significantly positive correlation in oral squamous cell carcinoma in tumor cells. Also, a significant correlation between p53 expression and T stage and TNM stage was observed. No other significant correlation between PD-L1 staining or CK17 and clinical or pathologic characteristics was identified.

Keyword

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC); Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1); Protein 53 (p53); Cytokeratin 17 (CK17); Immunohistochemistry; Disease-specific survival rate

MeSH Terms

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell*
Cell Death
Epithelial Cells*
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
Keratin-17
Survival Rate
Keratin-17