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Prognostic stratification of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma based on tumor immune microenvironment
Author(s) -
Ono Takeharu,
Azuma Koichi,
Kawahara Akihiko,
Sasada Tetsuro,
Matsuo Norikazu,
Kakuma Tatsuyuki,
Kamimura Hiroyuki,
Maeda Ririko,
Hattori Chikayuki,
On Kotaro,
Nagata Kei,
Sato Fumihiko,
Chitose Shunich,
Shin Buichiro,
Aso Takeichiro,
Akiba Jun,
Umeno Hirohito
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.25189
Subject(s) - nasopharyngeal carcinoma , immune system , cd8 , tumor infiltrating lymphocytes , tumor microenvironment , medicine , oncology , biomarker , pd l1 , cancer research , immunology , biology , immunotherapy , biochemistry , radiation therapy
Background Little is known about immune‐related prognostic factors in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods We retrospectively reviewed 66 patients with NPC. Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) status, programmed cell death‐ligand 1 (PD‐L1) expression, and tumor‐infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) densities were analyzed, and a prognostic evaluation of these immune‐related parameters was performed. Results The multivariate analyses demonstrated that CD8‐positive TIL density but not PD‐L1 expression on tumor cells or immune cells was a significant predictive factor for progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that a positive PD‐L1 expression on tumor cells in combination with a higher CD8‐positive TIL density was significantly associated with favorable prognosis, whereas positive PD‐L1 expression on tumor cells with lower CD8‐positive TIL density was associated with worse prognosis. Conclusion Our results suggest that PD‐L1 expression on tumor cells in combination with CD8‐positive TIL density could be a useful predictive biomarker for risk stratification in patients with NPC.