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Prostate cancer

PD-L1 expression is common and indicates poor prognosis

Nature Reviews Urology volume 13, page 5 (2016)Cite this article

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Immunohistochemical assessment of primary prostate cancer samples, using a newly validated antibody, shows that programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) is expressed in tumours of >50% of patients. In addition, high PD-L1 expression levels were associated with shorter biochemical-recurrence-free survival.

In the new study, Heidrun Gevensleben and colleagues from the University Hospitals in Bonn and Berlin, Germany, for the first time comprehensively investigated the expression of the immune checkpoint marker PD-L1 on primary radical prostatectomy specimens from hormone-treatment-naive patients. “We still have a pressing clinical need for new markers that enable identification of particularly harmless or aggressive prostate cancer cases to optimize therapeutic strategies,” senior author Glen Kristiansen told Nature Reviews Urology. “In some patients, even a single marker might enable precise estimation of tumour aggressiveness and facilitate deciding between immediate therapy or active surveillance.”

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References

  1. Gevensleben, H. et al. The immune checkpoint regulator PD-L1 is highly expressed in aggressive primary prostate cancer. Clin. Cancer Res. http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-15-2042

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  1. Clemens Thoma
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Thoma, C. PD-L1 expression is common and indicates poor prognosis. Nat Rev Urol 13, 5 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrurol.2015.287

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