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- Title
Programmed Cell Death Ligand 1 Expression in Circulating Tumor Cells as a Predictor of Treatment Response in Patients with Urothelial Carcinoma.
- Authors
Chiang, Pei-Jhang; Xu, Ting; Cha, Tai-Lung; Tsai, Yi-Ta; Liu, Shu-Yu; Wu, Sheng-Tang; Meng, En; Tsao, Chih-Wei; Kao, Chien-Chang; Chen, Chin-Li; Sun, Guang-Huan; Yu, Dah-Shyong; Chang, Sun-Yran; Yang, Ming-Hsin
- Abstract
Simple Summary: Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors are commonly used in treating advanced-stage urothelial carcinoma. Contrary to evaluating PD-L1 expression in tumor biopsy samples, this study assessed whether PD-L1 expression in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can be a predictor of treatment response to PD-L1 inhibitors. The current study proved that there was no statistically significant correlation between the presence of PD-L1-positive CTCs and PD-L1 expression in tumor tissues. Moreover, PD-L1-positive CTCs at baseline could be used as a biomarker to identify patients suitable for PD-L1 blockade therapy. Dynamic changes in PD-L1-positive CTCs during the course of treatment are predictive factors of immunotherapy response and prognostic factors of disease control. Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors are commonly used in treating advanced-stage urothelial carcinoma (UC). Therefore, this study evaluated the relationship between PD-L1 expression in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and treatment response to PD-L1 inhibitors using blood samples collected from patients with UC (n = 23). Subsequently, PD-L1 expression and its clinical correlation were analyzed. All patients had CTCs before PD-L1 inhibitory treatment, of which 15 had PD-L1-positive CTCs. However, PD-L1-positive expression in CTCs was not correlated with PD-L1 expression in tumor biopsy samples. Patients with PD-L1-positive CTCs had better disease control (DC) rates than those without PD-L1-positive CTCs. Moreover, changes in the proportion of PD-L1-positive CTCs were associated with disease outcomes. Furthermore, the PD-L1-positive CTC count in 9 of 11 patients who achieved DC had significantly decreased (p = 0.01). In four patients with progressive disease, this was higher or did not change. PD-L1-positive CTCs at baseline could be used as a biomarker to identify patients suitable for PD-L1 blockade therapy. Dynamic changes in PD-L1-positive CTCs during the course of treatment are predictive factors of immunotherapy response and prognostic factors of disease control. Hence, PD-L1-positive CTCs could be employed as a real-time molecular biomarker for individualized immunotherapy.
- Subjects
PROGRAMMED cell death 1 receptors; PROGRAMMED death-ligand 1; TRANSITIONAL cell carcinoma; PROGNOSIS
- Publication
Biology (2079-7737), 2021, Vol 10, Issue 7, p674
- ISSN
2079-7737
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/biology10070674