Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Nov 19;9(1):1844403.
doi: 10.1080/2162402X.2020.1844403.

PD-L1 expression in the microenvironment and the response to checkpoint inhibitors in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

D Evrard  1 , M Hourseau  2 , A Couvelard  2 , V Paradis  3 , H Gauthier  4 , E Raymond  5 , C Halimi  1 , B Barry  1 , S Faivre  4
Affiliations
Review

PD-L1 expression in the microenvironment and the response to checkpoint inhibitors in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

D Evrard et al. Oncoimmunology. .

Abstract

In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), data from studies using checkpoint-inhibiting antibodies that target programmed death 1 (PD-1) or its ligand the programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) demonstrated outstanding clinical activity. Translational investigations also suggested some correlations between therapeutic response and PD-L1 expression in tumor tissue. We comprehensively summarize results that have evaluated PD-L1 expression in HNSCC. We discuss flaws and strength of current PD-1/PD-L1 detection, quantification methods and the evaluation of PD-L1 as a prognostic and theragnostic biomarker. Understanding tumor microenvironment may help understanding resistance to checkpoint inhibitors, designing clinical trials that can exploit drug combinations.

Keywords: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; anti-PD-1/PD-L1; biomarkers; immune checkpoint inhibitors; tumor microenvironment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PD-L1 staining (E1L3N, Cell signaling technology) in head and neck carcinoma sample shows a weak staining of the tumor component (t) contrasting with a strong staining of the immune component (i) located in the stroma. Pathologists have scored this case 15% by tumor proportion score (TPS) and 40 by combined positive score (CPS)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Cavalieri S, Rivoltini L, Bergamini C, Locati LD, Licitra L, Bossi P.. Immuno-oncology in head and neck squamous cell cancers: news from clinical trials, emerging predictive factors and unmet needs. Cancer Treat Rev. 2018;65:78–11. doi:10.1016/j.ctrv.2018.03.003. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Outh-Gauer S, Alt M, Le Tourneau C, Augustin J, Broudin C, Gasne C, Denize T, Mirghani H, Fabre E, Ménard M, et al. Immunotherapy in head and neck cancers: a new challenge for immunologists, pathologists and clinicians. Cancer Treat Rev. 2018;65:54–64. doi:10.1016/j.ctrv.2018.02.008. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Azuma T, Yao S, Zhu G, Flies AS, Flies SJ, Chen L. B7-H1 is a ubiquitous antiapoptotic receptor on cancer cells. Blood. 2008;111(7):3635–3643. doi:10.1182/blood-2007-11-123141. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dong H, Strome SE, Salomao DR, Tamura H, Hirano F, Flies DB, Roche PC, Lu J, Zhu G, Tamada K, et al. Tumor-associated B7-H1 promotes T-cell apoptosis: a potential mechanism of immune evasion. Nat Med. 2002;8(8):793–800. doi:10.1038/nm730. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lyford-Pike S, Peng S, Young GD, Taube JM, Westra WH, Akpeng B, Bruno TC, Richmon JD, Wang H, Bishop JA, et al. Evidence for a role of the PD-1: PD-L1pathway in immune resistance of HPV-associated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer Res. 2013;73(6):1733–1741. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-12-2384. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms