The value of maspin and PD-L1 expression and peritumoral lymphocytic infiltration in breast tumors

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women worldwide. Our aim is to evaluate the importance of immunotherapy in breast cancer cases by using PD-L1 expression and to determine the effect of Maspin expression and lymphocytic density on predicting the prognosis.

A total of 200 breast cancer cases with different histological types were included in the study. The expression of PD-L1 and Maspin in these tumors were evaluated, and the lymphocytic infiltration density was examined.

Expression of PD-L1 in tumor cells was significantly higher in "medullary carcinoma" and grade 3 tumors. Expression of PD-L1 in inflammatory cells was increased in the group of "other types" and grade 3 tumors. Maspin expression was observed in 93 cases and was higher in "lobular carcinoma" and high grade tumors. In our study, a significant correlation was found between lymphocytic density score and histological grade and PD-L1 expression.

In our study, PD-L1 expression was detected in breast cancer, and was associated with triple negativity and high grade. Our results show that the Maspin expression and lymphocyte density are associated with the prognosis (Tab. 5, Fig. 4, Ref. 44).