Expression of PD-L1 and prognosis in breast cancer: a meta-analysis

Oncotarget. 2017 May 9;8(19):31347-31354. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.15532.

Abstract

The associations between programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and the prognosis of various cancers have always been a research topic of considerable interest. However, the prognostic value of PD-L1 in breast cancer patients remains a controversial subject. We aimed to assess the association between PD-L1 protein expression and clinicopathological features and the impact of this relationship on breast cancer survival. We performed a systematic search of the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases to determine the correlations among PD-L1 expression, clinicopathological features and overall survival (OS). A total of 5 studies containing 2,546 cases were included in the analysis. The combined hazard ratio (HR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) for OS were 1.76 (95% CI 1.09-2.82; P=0.02) for patients with tumors exhibiting PD-L1 overexpression. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) indicated that PD-L1 expression was associated with positive lymph node metastasis, higher histological grades, estrogen receptor (ER)-negativity, and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Our findings indicate that PD-L1 expression is a promising biomarker for the prognosis of breast cancer, and may be helpful to clinicians aiming to select the appropriate immunotherapy for breast cancer.

Keywords: breast cancer; meta-analysis; prognosis; programed death-ligand 1.

Publication types

  • Meta-Analysis

MeSH terms

  • B7-H1 Antigen / genetics*
  • Biomarkers, Tumor*
  • Breast Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Breast Neoplasms / mortality*
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic*
  • Humans
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • Neoplasm Staging
  • Odds Ratio
  • Prognosis
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Publication Bias
  • Tumor Burden

Substances

  • B7-H1 Antigen
  • Biomarkers, Tumor