Programmed Death-Ligand 1 Expression in Breast Cancer Patients: Clinicopathological Associations from a...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Immunology
• Pathology

Background:

• Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression aids tumor immune evasion and predicts response to PD-L1 inhibitors.
• Immune checkpoint blockade therapy is approved for breast cancer, but PD-L1 expression data in Jordanian patients are scarce.
• Characterizing PD-L1 expression is vital for patient eligibility for targeted immunotherapies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of tumor PD-L1 expression in Jordanian breast cancer patients.
• To assess the association between PD-L1 expression and clinicopathologic features.
• To explore the relationship between PD-L1 expression and prognostic factors in breast cancer.

Main Methods:

• Immunohistochemistry was used to analyze PD-L1 expression in tumor samples from 153 female breast cancer patients.
• PD-L1 expression levels and intensity were correlated with patient demographics, clinicopathologic characteristics, and survival data.

Main Results:

• PD-L1 expression was detected in 26.1% of breast tumors.
• PD-L1 positivity correlated significantly with larger tumor size, higher tumor grade, HER2-positivity, and lymphovascular invasion.
• PD-L1 expression was associated with advanced tumor stage and a worse prognosis.

Conclusions:

• Tumor PD-L1 expression in Jordanian breast cancer patients is linked to aggressive clinicopathologic features and a poorer prognosis.
• Further research is required to evaluate the efficacy of PD-L1 blockade therapy in eligible Jordanian breast cancer patients.