Combined Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes and PD-L1 Status in Recurrent/Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell
Catherine T Haring1, Joshua D Smith2, Sarah M Dermody2
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Objectives:
To determine if the assessment of CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) adds prognostic information to the PD-L1 combined positive score (CPS) in recurrent/metastatic (R/M) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
Methods:
A retrospective case series was performed of 77 patients with R/M HNSCC between 2003 and 2019. From pre-treatment biopsies, CD8+ TILs and PD-L1 CPS were quantified on a tissue microarray. Associations of biomarkers with overall survival and immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) response were assessed.
Results:
Neither CD8+ TIL counts nor PD-L1 CPS alone were associated with overall survival; however, combined high TILs and CPS ≥ 1 were associated with improved survival compared to low TILS and CPS < 1 (18.5 vs. 10.0 months, p = 0.058). For patients treated with ICI (n = 28), PD-L1 CPS predicted ICI response more strongly than CD8+ TILs.
Conclusions:
In R/M HNSCC, the combination of PD-L1 CPS and CD8+ TILs is a stronger prognostic biomarker for overall survival compared with either biomarker alone.
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