Positive PD-L1 Expression Predicts Worse Outcome in Cutaneous Angiosarcoma.

Purpose: Programmed death-1 (PD-1) or programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) targeted therapies have shown promising survival outcomes in several human neoplasms. However, it is unclear whether the expression of PD-L1 can be correlated to any clinical and pathologic variables in patients with cutaneous angiosarcoma (CA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinicopathological significance of PD-L1 expression in CA patients.
Materials and Methods: Data from 52 patients with CA were retrospectively reviewed. PD-L1 expression, tumor proliferation determined by Ki-67 index, and immunohistochemical evaluation of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, CD4+ and CD8+, were used to determine correlation with clinicopathological variables.
Results: PD-L1 was positively expressed in 40% of all patients. PD-L1 expression was significantly associated with tumor cell proliferation. Multivariate analysis confirmed that high levels of CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes were a significant predictor in patients with clinical stage I CA and the positive expression of PD-L1 was an independent prognostic factor in predicting worse outcome.
Conclusion: PD-L1 expression is a novel pathologic marker for predicting worse outcome in patients with CA.
Competing Interests: The following represents disclosure information provided by authors of this manuscript. All relationships are considered compensated. Relationships are self-held unless noted. I = Immediate Family Member, Inst = My Institution. Relationships may not relate to the subject matter of this manuscript. For more information about ASCO's conflict of interest policy, please refer to www.asco.org/rwc or ascopubs.org/jco/site/ifc. Akira ShimizuNo relationship to discloseKyoichi KairaNo relationship to discloseYuko OkuboNo relationship to discloseDaisuke UtsumiNo relationship to discloseMasahito YasudaNo relationship to discloseTakayuki AsaoNo relationship to discloseMasahiko NishiyamaResearch Funding: Yakult HonshaKenzo TakahashiNo relationship to discloseOsamu IshikawaNo relationship to disclose