Comparison of Programmed Death-Ligand 1 Expression in Adenocarcinoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Cervix in Paraffin Blocks of Patients With Cervical Cancer Publisher Pubmed



Hosseini MS¹ ; Shafizadeh F² ; Bahremani MH³ ; Farzaneh F¹ ; Ashrafganjoei T¹ ; Arab M² ; Talayeh M² ; Jafari F^{4, 5} ; Abdshah A⁶
Source: Cancer Reports Published:2024

Abstract

Aims: Cervical cancer (CC) is a common malignancy in women, predominantly caused by human papillomavirus. The most subtypes are adenocarcinomas (AC) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), which show various features and treatment responses. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) as Immune checkpoint molecules, play a role in immune evasion. We investigated PD-L1 expression in AC and SCC of the cervix and explored its link to clinical characteristics. Methods and results: The present cross-sectional research was done between 2016 and 2022 on samples in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences-affiliated hospitals in Iran. Histological tissue samples of CCs (16 AC and 48 SCC) were assessed, and clinical information was obtained by reviewing their medical documents. PD-L1 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and we used the combined positive score. SCC cases showed a higher (not significant) PD-L1 expression. The PD-L1 expression and clinical characteristics were not significantly correlated in both subgroups. Conclusion: Although SCC cases exhibited higher PD-L1 expression, this difference was non-significant. More investigations should highlight the role of PD-L1 in CC and the potential benefits of immunotherapy. © 2024 The Authors. Cancer Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.