Pescadillo ribosomal biogenesis factor 1 as a therapeutic target in tumor immunotherapy

High expression of pescadillo ribosomal biogenesis factor 1 (PES1) has been reported across multiple cancer types and is significantly associated with poor prognosis. Hu et al in their recent paper described their investigation of PES1 in gastric cancer and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, demonstrating positive correlations between PES1 and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression (51.72% for PES1 and 58.62% for PD-L1), as well as associations with lymph node metastasis and tumor invasion depth. However, the relationship between PES1 and PD-L1 remains incompletely defined. To further address this gap, we analyzed The Cancer Genome Atlas gastric adenocarcinoma dataset and found a negative correlation between PES1 expression and CD8+ T cell infiltration, alongside a positive correlation with PD-L1 expression. Based on prior findings, we hypothesize that PES1 may regulate PD-L1 through the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B pathway or cellular Myc-mediated mechanisms. While these pathways require experimental validation, our observations highlight PES1 as a potential regulator of immune evasion and a promising target for cancer immunotherapy.