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Updated: Oct 4, 2025
Multiplexed Immunofluorescence Analysis and Quantification of Intratumoral PD-1+ Tim-3+ CD8+ T Cells
Published on: February 8, 2018
Simultaneous high PD-L1 and low VEGFR2 expression is associated with better overall survival in rectal cancer
Yun Ding1,2,3,4, Yuanyuan Fu1,2,3, Wei Wei1,2,3,5
1Department of Tumor Biological Treatment, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China.
Background:
The aim of the present study was to analyze the association of programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) expression levels with clinicopathological characteristics and survival to provide a treatment strategy for rectal cancer.
Methods:
Immunohistochemical staining of VEGFR2 and PD-L1 was carried out, and the association of PD-L1 and VEGFR2 expression levels with clinicopathological characteristics and survival were investigated in 77 pair-matched rectal cancer patients.
Results:
PD-L1 and VEGFR2 expression levels in surgical tumor tissues were higher than those in paired adjacent normal tissues, respectively (both P<0.05). The results of the 5-year overall survival (OS) analysis showed that patients with low VEGFR2 expression (66.7% vs. 43.5%, P=0.042) and high tumor PD-L1 expression (63.9% vs. 26.1%, P=0.001) in tumor tissues demonstrated significantly better OS. Patients with high TNM stage had poorer OS [hazard ratio (HR): 2.093, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.027-4.087, P=0.030]. Similar results of poorer OS could be seen in patients with low tumor PD-L1 expression (HR: 3.365, 95% CI:1.747-6.481, P=0.005), as well as patients with high tumor VEGFR2 expression (HR: 0.418, 95% CI: 0.232-0.993, P=0.048).
Conclusions:
The results indicated that tumor PD-L1 and VEGFR2 expression levels were associated with OS, and the combination of tumor PD-L1 and VEGFR2 levels might be an independent prognostic factor in rectal cancer.
