共刺激分子PD-L1在鼻咽癌组织中的表达和意义

Expression and significance of costimulatory molecule PD-L1 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

目的探讨共刺激分子PD-L1在鼻咽癌组织的表达和临床意义,以及PD-L1的表达和鼻咽癌Foxp3+淋巴细胞增多的相关性。方法采用免疫组化方法检测共刺激分子PD-L1在64例鼻咽癌的肿瘤组织和20例慢性鼻咽炎组织的表达情况及Foxp3+淋巴细胞的分布。结果 PD-L1在鼻咽癌组织中阳性表达率为67.2%,明显高于其在慢性鼻咽炎组织中的表达,差异具有统计学意义(P<0.05)。PD-L1的阳性表达与鼻咽癌病人性别、年龄、临床分期及是否转移等指标均无显著相关性(P>0.05),但与鼻咽癌组织中Foxp3+淋巴细胞增加有关,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05),并且鼻咽癌PD-L1的表达也与Foxp3+/CD8+淋巴细胞比率增加正相关(P<0.05)。结论鼻咽癌组织PD-L1在鼻咽癌组织中高表达,并与瘤内的调节性T细胞升高及CD8+细胞下降有关,其可能在鼻咽癌的发展中起到一定作用,有望成为免疫治疗的一个新靶点。

Objective To investigate the expression and significance of PD-L1 and explore the relationship between PD-L1 protein expression and the Foxp3 expression in nasopharyngeal carcinoma （NPC）. Methods Immunohistochemistry method was used to detect PD-L1 and Foxp3 expression in 64 nasopharyngeal carcinomas and 20 chronic nasopharyngitis. Results Comparing with chronic nasopharyngitis, PD-L1 were increased in NPC specimens （P0.05）, but it was not significantly correlated with gender, age, lymph node metastasis and clinical stage （P0.05）. The lymphocytes with Foxp3 in NPC were also increased （P0.05）, and the density of Foxp3＋ TIL was positively associated with PD-L1 （P0.05）. The ratio of Foxp3＋ / CD8＋ TIL was significantly up-regulated in PD-L1＋ nasopharyngeal carcinoma compare to PD-L1- nasopharyngeal carcinoma （P0.05）. Conclusion These results suggest that PD-L1 may play a role in immune evasion of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and may be considered as a new therapy target.