Prognostic value of the association between MHC class I downregulation and PD-L1 upregulation in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients

• Published in: Scientific reports 2019-05, Vol.9 (1), p.7680-7680, Article 7680
• Main Authors: Yoo, Shin Hye, Keam, Bhumsuk, Ock, Chan-Young, Kim, Sehui, Han, Buhm, Kim, Ji-Won, Lee, Keun-Wook, Jeon, Yoon Kyung, Jung, Kyeong Cheon, Chung, Eun-Jae, Kwon, Seong Keun, Ahn, Soon-Hyun, Sung, Myung-Whun, Heo, Dae Seog
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 13/51; 692/4028/67/1536; 692/4028/67/580; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Apoptosis; B7-H1 Antigen - biosynthesis; B7-H1 Antigen - genetics; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 - biosynthesis; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 - genetics; Down-Regulation; Female; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Genes, MHC Class I; Head & neck cancer; Histocompatibility Antigens Class I - physiology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Major histocompatibility complex; Male; Medical prognosis; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Neoplasm Proteins - biosynthesis; Neoplasm Proteins - genetics; PD-L1 protein; Prognosis; Proportional Hazards Models; Retrospective Studies; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Squamous cell carcinoma; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck - genetics; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck - mortality; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44206-2

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic impact of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I expression and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). A total of 158 patients with HNSCC were evaluated retrospectively. The expression of MHC class I and PD-L1 was analyzed in tumor specimens using immunohistochemistry. The association between MHC class I/PD-L1 expression and clinical outcome was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses. Among 158 patients, 103 (65.2%) showed positive PD-L1 expression, and 20 (12.7%) showed no detectable expression of MHC class I. The frequency of PD-L1 positive expression with concomitant MHC class I loss was 7.0%. In the PD-L1-positive group, MHC class I loss was associated with a significantly worse survival compared with MHC class I positivity (median overall survival 39.3 months vs. not reached; P  = 0.005), whereas MHC class I status provided no prognostic impact in the PD-L1 negative group. Neither PD-L1 nor MHC class I alone showed a significant difference in overall survival. The loss of MHC class I expression in PD-L1-positive HNSCC was associated with a poor clinical outcome. This suggested that MHC class I expression status might be useful for the prognosis of tumor progression in HNSCC when combined with PD-L1 expression status. External validation with enough numbers of participants in such subgroup should be needed for validation.