Crosstalk Between Programmed Death Ligand 1, Ki-67 Labelling Index, and Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Invasive Breast Cancer and Clinicopathological Correlations in a Tertiary Care Center in Western India

Overview

Journal Iran J Pathol

Date 2022 Oct 17

PMID 36247496

Authors

Rashim Sharma

Poonam Abhay Elhence

Meenakshi Rao

Sudeep Khera

Deepak Vedant

Ramkaran Chaudhary

Puneet Pareek

Jeewan Ram Vishnoi

Sanjeev Misra

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background & Objective: Breast cancer is the leading cancer among Indian women and accounts for about 25% of all cancer cases worldwide. The present study aimed to assess Programmed Death Ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression in tumoral cells and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and evaluate their correlations with the Ki-67 labelling index in invasive breast carcinomas (IBC).

Methods: This descriptive observational study was conducted during 2016-2018 and included all diagnosed cases of IBC. The relationships between PD-L1 expression, TILs, hormone receptors, Ki-67, and clinicopathological parameters were studied in IBC. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS version 23.

Results: Out of 114 evaluated cases, 33.33% (N=38) showed PD-L1+ expression in tumor cells and 47.37% (N=54) had PD-L1+ expression in TILs. A high Ki-67 index was observed in 96 cases. Moreover, 49 patients were estrogen receptor (ER)- and 65 were ER+. We observed that 22 of 49 ER- and 49 of 65 ER+ subjects showed PD-L1+ expression, respectively.

Conclusion: Our results showed a significant relationship between PD-L1 expression in tumoral cells and TILs, as well as between Ki-67 and TILs. In addition, an inverse correlation was noted between PD-L1 expression and ER. The PD-L1 expression in tumors and TILs and correlation with high Ki-67 may prove the importance of PD-L1 in targeted chemotherapy. An inverse relationship between PD-L1 and ER expression in tumoral cells suggests scope for immunotherapy in ER- IBC. However, further research with more cases is required.

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