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PD-L1 expression in gastroesophageal dysplastic lesions

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Abstract

Immunotherapy has been recently approved for gastric (GC) and gastroesophageal-junction adenocarcinomas (GEC), and PD-L1 immunohistochemical evaluation represents a promising predictive biomarker in this oncological setting. A series of 125 gastroesophageal dysplastic lesions (52 low-grade, 73 high-grade) was investigated for PD-L1 and DNA mismatch repair proteins status. PD-L1 was positive (combined positive score (CPS) ≥ 1) in 48 (31.0%) dysplastic lesions. A higher prevalence of PD-L1–positive cases was observed among esophageal specimens compared with gastric ones (p = 0.0003), in high-grade and adenocarcinoma samples in comparison with low-grade dysplasia (p < 0.0001), and in lesions with mismatch repair deficiency (p = 0.028). For 30 dysplastic samples, a synchronous matched invasive lesion (GC = 15, GEC = 15) was available and tested for PD-L1 expression; a discordant PD-L1 status was observed in 12/30 (40%) cases. A relatively high prevalence in PD-L1 positivity was observed among gastroesophageal dysplastic lesions and this should be taken into consideration for future therapeutic strategies based on this biomarker.

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Funding

This work was partly supported by a DOR grant from Padua University. Sara Lonardi received research funding from Amgen, Merck Serono. Matteo Fassan received funding from Astellas Pharma.

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Author notes

  1. Matteo Fassan and Stefano Brignola contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Surgical Pathology Unit, Department of Medicine (DIMED), University of Padua, via Gabelli 61, 35121, Padua, PD, Italy

    Matteo Fassan, Stefano Brignola, Gianmaria Pennelli, Valentina Angerilli, Alessandra Bressan, Cristiano Lanza, Roberta Salmaso & Massimo Rugge

  2. Unit of Medical Oncology 1, Department of Oncology, Istituto Oncologico Veneto, IOV-IRCCS, Padua, PD, Italy

    Giulia Alberti, Antonio Pellino, Sara Lonardi & Fotios Loupakis

  3. Department of Oncology, Surgery and Gastroenterology (DISCOG), University of Padua, Padua, PD, Italy

    Giulia Alberti

  4. 1st Surgery Unit, Department of Surgical Oncology and Gastroenterology (DiSCOG), University of Padua, Padua, Italy

    Salvatore Pucciarelli & Gaya Spolverato

  5. Surgery Unit, Istituto Oncologico Veneto, IOV-IRCCS, Padua, PD, Italy

    Marco Scarpa

  6. Gastroenterology Unit, Istituto Oncologico Veneto, IOV-IRCCS, Padua, PD, Italy

    Stefano Realdon

  7. Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Surgical Oncology and Gastroenterology (DiSCOG), University of Padua, Padua, PD, Italy

    Fabio Farinati

  8. Section of Pathology, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Verona, Italy

    Claudio Luchini

  9. Veneto Cancer Registry, Padua, Italy

    Massimo Rugge

Authors
  1. Matteo Fassan
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  2. Stefano Brignola
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  3. Gianmaria Pennelli
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  4. Giulia Alberti
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  5. Valentina Angerilli
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  6. Alessandra Bressan
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  7. Antonio Pellino
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  8. Cristiano Lanza
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  9. Roberta Salmaso
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  10. Sara Lonardi
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  11. Salvatore Pucciarelli
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  12. Gaya Spolverato
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  13. Marco Scarpa
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  14. Stefano Realdon
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  15. Fabio Farinati
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  16. Claudio Luchini
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  17. Massimo Rugge
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  18. Fotios Loupakis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matteo Fassan.

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Conflict of interest

Fotios Loupakis had roles as consultant or advisor for Roche, Bayer, Amgen, Genentech. Sara Lonardi had roles as consultant or advisor for Amgen, Bayer, Merck Serono, Lilly. She is part of speakers bureau of Lilly, and BMS. All the others authors declare no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article.

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The study was approved by the local ethic committee.

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Fassan, M., Brignola, S., Pennelli, G. et al. PD-L1 expression in gastroesophageal dysplastic lesions. Virchows Arch 477, 151–156 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-019-02693-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-019-02693-8

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